Major Averages Finish Trading Session Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session roughly flat, stocks moved modestly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. Selling pressure remained relatively subdued, however, limiting the downside for the broader markets.

Transportation stocks saw substantial weakness throughout the session, resulting in a 2.6 percent drop by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. With the loss, the average pulled back further off the two-month closing high set last Friday.

Railroad companies Union Pacific (UNP) and Kansas City Southern (KSU) turned in two of the transportation sector's worst performances.

Significant weakness was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Lexmark (LXK) led the hardware sector lower after reporting a third quarter loss.

Energy stocks also came under pressure on the day, moving lower along with the price of crude oil. Crude for December slid $0.78 to a two-month closing low of $43.20 a barrel.

On the other hand, biotechnology stocks moved sharply, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 3.5 percent. Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO) posted a standout gain, surging up by 24.8 percent.

The major averages ended the day in negative territory but off their lows for the session. The Dow slipped 41.62 points or 0.2 percent to 17,581.43, the Nasdaq edged down 4.56 points or 0.1 percent to 5,030.15 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.29 points or 0.3 percent to 2,065.89.