Major Averages End Choppy Trading Day Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading day on Tuesday before ending the session modestly lower. The losses on the day partly offset the notable upward move that was seen in the previous session.

Steel stocks saw considerable weakness on the day amid concerns about the outlook for the Chinese economy. The NYSE Arca Steel Index tumbled by 2.1 percent, extending a recent pullback.

A.M. Castle (CAS) turned in one of the steel sector's worst performances, falling by 5.7 percent after reporting disappointing fourth quarter results.

Significant weakness was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness in the sector came despite an increase by the price of gold.

Brokerage, defense, and computer hardware stocks also saw some weakness on the day, while retail and airline stocks moved to the upside.

The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, stuck just below the unchanged line. The Dow dipped 27.48 points or 0.2 percent to 16,179.66, the Nasdaq edged down 5.38 points or 0.1 percent to 4,287.59 and the S&P 500 slipped 2.49 points or 0.1 percent to 1,845.12.