Dow Reaches New Record High, Nasdaq Closes Firmly Negative

(RTTNews) - Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Tuesday after failing to sustain an early move to the upside. The major averages spent much of the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line before ending the session mixed.

While many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, considerable weakness was visible among biotechnology stocks. Reflecting the weakness in the biotechnology sector, the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index fell by 2.1 percent.

Affymetrix (AFFX) helped to lead the biotech sector lower, falling by 5.2 percent, while Biogen Idec (BIIB) and Regeneron (REGN) also posted notable losses.

Tobacco stocks also came under pressure on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index down by 1.5 percent. The loss by the index came after it ended the previous session at a record closing high.

Trucking and electronic storage stocks also saw significant weakness, with the Dow Jones Trucking Index and the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index falling by 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, gold stocks showed a substantial turnaround after coming under pressure in early trading. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 2.9 percent, reaching its best closing level in over a month.

Steel stocks also ended the day posting strong gains, resulting in a 2.2 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Steel Index, which reached a nearly two-month closing high.

While the Dow edged up 22.19 points or 0.1 percent to a new record closing high of 15,567.74, the Nasdaq dropped 21.11 points or 0.6 percent to 3,579.27 and the S&P 500 dipped 3.14 points or 0.2 percent to 1,692.39.