Major Averages Close In The Red After Seeing Early Strength

(RTTNews) - After showing a notable move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday, stocks showed a substantial downturn over the course of the session. Concerns about the impact of new sanctions against Russia weighed on the markets.

Transportation stocks showed a significant move to the downside over the course of the session, dragging the Dow Jones Transportation Average down by 1.4 percent. With the loss, the average pulled back further off the record closing high it set last Wednesday.

UPS (UPS) helped lead the transportation sector lower, as the delivery giant tumbled by 3.7 percent after reporting weaker than expected second quarter earnings and cutting its full-year guidance.

Defense and utilities stocks also came under pressure on the day, with the Philadelphia Defense Sector Index and the Philadelphia Utilities Sector Index both falling by 1.1 percent.

Meanwhile, biotechnology stocks managed to hold on to the bulk of their early gains, resulting in a 2.5 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Pharmacyclics (PCYC) and United Therapeutics (UTHR) posted standout gains.

Strength also remained visible among telecom stocks, with shares of Windstream (WIN) surging up by 12.4 percent after the advanced network communications provider announced plans to spin off certain assets into an independent, publicly traded real estate investment trust.

The major averages all closed in negative territory, although the Nasdaq edged down only 2.21 points or 0.1 percent to 4,442.70. The Dow fell 70.48 points or 0.4 percent to 16,912.11 and the S&P 500 slid 8.96 points or 0.5 percent to 1,969.95.