Major Averages Pull Back Firmly Into Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved notably lower over the course of the trading day on Monday after showing a lack of direction earlier in the session. The major averages have slid firmly into negative territory, with the Dow and the S&P 500 pulling back well off last Friday's record highs.

The weakness that has emerged on Wall Street is partly due to a sharp drop by the price of crude oil, which is weighing heavily on energy stocks.

Crude for January delivery is down $2.53 at $63.31 a barrel after hitting a low of $63.06 a barrel, its lowest level since July of 2009.

Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index, and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index are all plummeting by more than 4 percent.

Substantial weakness has also emerged among railroad stocks, as reflected by the 3.6 percent loss being posted the Dow Jones Railroads Index.

The railroad index has pulled back sharply in recent sessions amid concerns about the impact the drop in the price of oil will have on the industry.

Computer hardware, internet, and semiconductor stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

In recent trading, the major averages have seen some further downside, hitting new lows for the session. The Dow is down 142.56 points or 0.8 percent at 17,816.23, the Nasdaq is down 54.29 points or 1.1 percent at 4,726.46 and the S&P 500 is down 19.63 points or 1 percent at 2,055.74.