Major Averages Bounce Off Their Lows But Still Close In The Red

(RTTNews) - After recovering from an early move to the downside, stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout the remainder of the session on Thursday. The major averages spent the rest of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing modestly lower.

Reflecting the lack of direction shown by the broader markets for much of the session, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.

Gold stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index tumbling by 1.8 percent. The weakness in the sector came even though gold for April delivery climbed $7.80 to $1,204.80 an ounce.

Considerable weakness was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Concerns about the impact of the news regarding the Germanwings crash weighed on the sector.

Semiconductor, steel, and railroad stocks also came under pressure on the day, with SanDisk (SNDK) leading the semiconductor sector lower after the memory chip maker cut its first quarter revenue guidance.

While the major averages ended the day in the red, they were well off their lows for the session. The Dow dipped 40.31 points or 0.2 percent to 17,678.23, the Nasdaq slid 13.16 points or 0.3 percent to 4,863.36 and the S&P 500 edged down 4.90 points or 0.2 percent to 2,056.15.