Major Averages End Choppy Trading Day Roughly Flat

(RTTNews) - Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Monday before ending the session roughly flat. The lackluster performance on the day came as traders digested news of an agreement to halt Iran's nuclear program.

While most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, significant strength was visible among airline stocks. The NYSE Arca Airline Index surged up by 1.8 percent to reach its best closing level in ten years.

Republic Airways (RJET) and United Continental (UAL) turned in some of the airline sector's best performances, advancing by 5.9 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, oil service stocks fell sharply on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.1 percent. With the loss, the index fell to a one month closing low.

Networking and steel stocks also showed notable moves to the downside, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index and the NYSE Arca Steel Index both falling by 1.1 percent.

The major averages ended the day mixed, although they were all nearly unchanged. While the S&P 500 edged down 2.28 points or 0.1 percent to 1,802.48, the Dow inched up 7.77 points or 0.1 percent to 16,072.54 and the Nasdaq crept up 2.92 points or 0.1 percent to 3,994.57.