Major Averages Climb Off Lows But Remain In The Red

(RTTNews) - While selling pressure has waned from earlier in the session, stocks remain mostly negative in mid-day trading on Wednesday. The losses on the day are partly offsetting the strength that was seen in the previous session.

After moving notably higher over the past few sessions, gold stocks have shown a sharp pullback on the day. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index is plunging by 3.3 percent.

The weakness among gold stocks comes amid a notable decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery falling $18.10 to $1,179 an ounce.

Significant weakness also remains visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) is leading the sector lower after announcing that it is pursuing exit options for its Eastern Canadian iron ore operations.

Computer hardware stocks are also seeing considerable weakness in mid-day trading, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware index falling by 1.4 percent. Lexmark (LXK) is turning in one of the sector's worst performances.

Telecom, software, and internet stocks have also moved lower on the day, while notable strength has emerged among natural gas stocks.

The major averages have climbed well off their worst levels of the day but remain stuck in the red. The Dow is down 13.48 points or 0.1 percent at 17,674.34, the Nasdaq is down 26.29 points or 0.6 percent at 4,676.16 and the S&P 500 is down 5.28 points or 0.3 percent at 2,046.52.