Major Averages Posting Modest Losses In Morning Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower in morning trading on Tuesday after ending the previous session roughly flat. The major averages have all moved to the downside, although selling pressure has remained relatively subdued.

The weakness on Wall Street may partly be due to profit taking following the recent strength in the markets, which lifted the major averages to two-month highs.

Traders are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement due Wednesday afternoon.

The Fed is widely expected to hold off on raising interest rates, but traders will be paying close attention to any signals regarding a rate hike in December.

Transportation stocks have shown a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the Dow Jones Transportation Average down by 2.3 percent. The average is pulling back further off two-month closing high it set last Friday.

Energy, brokerage, and housing stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while gold stocks are moving notably higher.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses, off their lows for the session. The Dow is down 31.67 points or 0.2 percent at 17,591.38, the Nasdaq is down 11.59 points or 0.2 percent at 5,023.12 and the S&P 500 is down 6.46 points or 0.3 percent at 2,064.72.