Major Averages Posting Steep Losses In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure in early trading on Friday, stocks have seen some further downside over the course of the trading day. The losses on the day have more than offset the moderate strength seen in the previous session.

Defense stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Defense Sector Index down by 2.8 percent. With the steep drop, the index has hit its worst intraday level in well over a month.

Esterline Technologies (ESL) has helped to lead the defense sector lower, with the aerospace and defense supplier tumbling by 13.9 percent after reporting disappointing fourth quarter results.

Considerable weakness is also visible among chemical stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent loss being posted by the Dow Jones Chemicals Index. Dow Chemical (DOW) and Eastman (EMN) are turning in two of the sector's worst performances.

Steel stocks have also moved sharply lower on the day, resulting in a 2.2 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The loss has dragged the index down to its lowest levels in over five years.

Telecom, brokerage, and energy stocks are also seeing significant weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Currently, the major averages remain firmly in negative territory. The Dow is down 235.17 points or 1.3 percent at 17,361.17, the Nasdaq is down 29.74 points or 0.6 percent at 4,678.42 and the S&P 500 is down 22.44 points or 1.1 percent at 2,012.89.