Stocks Seeing Continued Weakness After Early Downward Move - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews.com) - After showing a notable move to the downside in early trading on Thursday, stocks are seeing continued weakness in the late morning. While selling pressure has waned from earlier in the session, the major averages remain firmly in negative territory.

The weakness on Wall Street comes as traders continue to cash in on the recent strength in the markets, which lifted the major averages to multi-year closing highs on Tuesday.

Concerns about the outlook for monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve are also weighing on stocks along with disappointing reports on weekly jobless claims and Philadelphia manufacturing activity.

However, a separate report showing an unexpected rebound by January existing home sales may be helping to limit the downside for the markets.

Networking stocks continue to see considerable weakness on the day, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 1.6 percent. However, the index has regained some ground since hitting its worst intraday level in over a month.

Significant weakness also remains visible among oil service stocks, which are moving lower along with the price of crude oil. With crude for April delivery tumbling $2.08 to $93.14 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down by 1.7 percent.

Steel, brokerage, and semiconductor stocks are also posting notable losses on the day, while gold stocks are regaining ground after falling sharply in recent sessions.

The major averages have climbed off their worst levels of the day but remain stuck in the red. The Dow is down 57.07 points or 0.4 percent at 13,870.47, the Nasdaq is down 18.13 points or 0.5 percent at 3,146.28 and the S&P 500 is down 7.51 points or 0.5 percent at 1,504.44.

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