Major Averages Climb Off Worst Levels But Still Close Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - Stocks saw substantial weakness during trading on Monday, joining in the sell-off seen in markets around the world. With the steep drop on the day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell to its lowest closing level in well over two months.

Most of the major sectors came under considerable pressure on the day, reflecting broad based weakness on Wall Street.

Airline stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances, resulting in a 3.8 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. With the loss, the index fell to its lowest closing level in four months.

Within the airline sector, China Southern Airlines (ZNH) and Republic Airways (RJET) posted particularly steep losses.

Substantial weakness was also visible among internet stocks, as reflected by the 3 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones Internet Index. Netflix (NFLX) helped lead the sector lower after Baird downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform.

Financial, biotechnology, housing, and healthcare stocks also saw significant weakness on the day, while gold and energy stocks were among the few groups to buck the downtrend.

The major averages regained some ground going into the close but still ended the day firmly in the red. The Dow slumped 276.09 points or 1.6 percent to 17,148.94, the Nasdaq plummeted 104.32 points or 2.1 percent to 4,903.09 and the S&P 500 tumbled 31.28 points or 1.5 percent to 2,012.66.