Major Averages Climb Well Off Lows But Remain In The Red

(RTTNews) - After falling sharply at the open, stocks have regained some ground over the course of the trading session on Friday. The markets have maintained a negative bias, however, with traders reacting to disappointing jobs data.

While most of the major sectors have climbed off their worst levels of the day, substantial weakness remains visible among financial stocks.

Reflecting the weakness in the financial sector, the Dow Jones Banks Index and the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index are down by 3.2 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively, after hitting multi-month intraday lows.

Airline stocks also continue to see considerable weakness in mid-day trading, resulting in a 1.7 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Virgin America (VA), American Airlines (AAL), and Delta (DAL) are posting notable losses.

On the other hand, gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 6.2 percent. The strength in the sector comes as gold for December delivery is jumping $24 to $1,137.70 an ounce.

Oil service, steel, and biotechnology stocks have also turned higher as the day has progressed, contributing to the recovery attempt by the broader markets.

The major averages have climbed well off their worst levels of the day but currently remain in the red. The Dow is down 77.43 points or 0.5 percent at 16,194.58, the Nasdaq is down 14.12 points or 0.3 percent at 4,612.97 and the S&P 500 is down 9.58 points or 0.5 percent at 1,914.24.