Dow Tumbles To Lowest Closing Level In A Month

(RTTNews) - With the ongoing government shutdown heading into its second week, stocks saw significant weakness during trading on Monday. The losses on the day extended a recent downward trend by the markets, with the Dow falling to its lowest levels in a month.

Biotechnology stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 2.5 percent. The drop pulled the index down to its lowest closing level in a month.

Within the biotech sector, Incyte (INCY), Exact Sciences (EXAS), and InterMune (ITMN) posted particularly steep losses.

Significant weakness was also visible among banking stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones Banks Index. With the loss, the index set a three-month closing low.

Health insurance stocks also saw considerable weakness, resulting in a 1.5 percent drop by the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index. Molina Healthcare (MOH) helped to lead the sector lower.

Brokerage, retail, and software stocks also posted notable losses on the day, moving to the downside along with most of the other major sectors.

Meanwhile, gold stocks bucked the downtrend by the broader markets, benefiting from an increase by the price of the precious metal. With gold for December delivery climbing $15.20 to $1,325.10 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index jumped by 2 percent.

The major averages moved to the downside going into the close, ending the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow tumbled 136.34 points or 0.9 percent to 14,936.24, the Nasdaq plunged 37.38 points or 1 percent to 3,770.38 and the S&P 500 slid 14.38 points or 0.9 percent to 1,676.12.