Major Averages Close Just Below The Unchanged Line

(RTTNews) - After turning in a relatively lackluster performance throughout much of the session, stocks ended Tuesday's trading modestly lower. The markets continued to experience choppy trading after ending the previous session mixed.

Profit taking contributed to the modest weakness on Wall Street, with the Dow and the S&P 500 giving back some ground after ending yesterday's trading at new record closing highs.

Activity remained light, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday and the release of the closely watched monthly U.S. jobs report on Friday.

Contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.

Railroad stocks saw considerable weakness, however, with the Dow Jones Railroads Index falling by 1.2 percent. With the drop, the index gave back some ground after ending the previous session at a new record closing high.

Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX) and American Railcar (ARII) turned in some of the railroad sector's worst performances.

Software, trucking, and internet stocks also saw some weakness on the day, while strength was visible among semiconductor and biotechnology stocks.

The major averages closed in negative territory but well off their lows for the session. The Dow dipped 21.29 points or 0.1 percent to 16,722.34, the Nasdaq edged down 3.12 points or 0.1 percent to 4,234.08 and the S&P 500 slipped 0.73 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 1,924.24.