Major Averages Finish Choppy Trading Day Mixed

(RTTNews) - After ending the two previous sessions sharply higher, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending the session mixed.

Despite the lackluster performance turned in by the broader markets, substantial weakness was visible among oil service stocks. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index tumbled by 3 percent, partly offsetting the strong gains posted in the previous session.

The weakness in the sector came amid a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil, with crude for March delivery plummeting $4.60 to $48.45 a barrel after ending the previous session at its highest closing level of 2015.

Trucking stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, dragging the Dow Jones Trucking Index down by 2.7 percent. C.H. Robinson (CHRW) led the sector lower despite reporting fourth quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates.

After moving notably higher over the past few sessions, steel stocks also came under pressure on the day, moving lower along with natural gas, biotechnology, and utilities stocks.

On the other hand, airline stocks showed a strong move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 2.2 percent. United Continental (UAL) and American Airlines (AAL) posted standout gains.

Significant strength also emerged among gold stocks, which moved higher along with the price of the precious metal.

While the Dow inched up 6.62 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 17,673.02, the Nasdaq dipped 11.03 points or 0.2 percent to 4,716.70 and the S&P 500 fell 8.52 points or 0.4 percent to 2,041.51.

The modest gain posted by the Dow was largely due to a sharp jump by shares of Disney (DIS), which surged up by 7.6 percent after the entertainment giant reported better than expected first quarter results.