Major Averages Climb Off Lows But Remain In The Red

(RTTNews) - After moving modestly lower in early trading on Monday, stocks have seen continued weakness over the course of the trading session. The pullback on the day is partly offsetting the strong upward move that was seen last week.

The weakness on Wall Street comes following the release of disappointing Chinese trade data, with a report from the Chinese General Administration of Customs showing that China swung to a trade deficit in February.

Amid concern about the outlook for Chinese demand, steel stocks are seeing significant weakness in mid-day trading. The NYSE Arca Steel Index has tumbled by 2.4 percent to its lowest intraday level in six months.

Housing stocks have also come under pressure on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.5 percent. KB Home (KBH) and Meritage Homes (MTH) are turning in two of the sector's worst performance.

Oil service, defense and telecom stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves to the downside.

The major averages have climbed off their worst levels of the day but remain in the red. The Dow is down 84.14 points or 0.5 percent at 16,368.58, the Nasdaq is down 13.14 points or 0.3 percent at 4,323.08 and the S&P 500 is down 6.72 points or 0.4 percent at 1,871.32.