Major Averages Close Firmly In Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - Stocks saw some volatility during trading on Friday but largely maintained a negative bias before ending the session firmly in the red. The losses on the day offset the strong upward move that was seen in the previous session.

Airline stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index tumbling by 5.7 percent. With the drop, the index pulled back further off the twelve-year highs it set on Monday.

Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings (HA) led the sector lower, plunging by 27 percent after forecasting a drop by a key revenue figure in the first quarter.

Considerable weakness was also visible among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. The drop extended a recent downtrend by the index, which fell to a three-month closing low.

Software stocks also extended a recent sell-off on the day, resulting in a 2.8 percent drop by the Dow Jones Software Index. The index also ended the session at its lowest closing level in three months.

Utilities, transportation, semiconductor, and real estate stocks also saw significant weakness, while gold and energy stocks bucked the downtrend amid a jump in commodities prices.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session near their worst levels of the day. The Dow tumbled 251.90 points or 1.5 percent to 17,164.95, the Nasdaq slumped 48.17 points or 1 percent to 4,635.24, and the S&P dove 26.26 points or 1.3 percent to 1,994.99.

With the losses on the day, the major averages all moved sharply lower for the week. The Dow plummeted by 2.9 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 plunged by 2.6 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.