Major Averages Pull Back Off Early Highs To Close Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher in early trading, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs for the session and eventually ended the day modestly lower.

Gold stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 5.1 percent. The pullback by the index came after it reached a nearly three-month intraday high in early trading.

The weakness among gold stocks came even though gold for February inched up by $1.60 on the day to $1,234.40 an ounce.

Significant weakness also emerged among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 2 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. With the loss, the index fell to a two-month closing low.

Housing, steel, and railroad stocks also saw notable weakness, while most of the other major sectors ended the day showing more modest moves.

The Dow finished the day down 27.16 points or 0.2 percent at 17,613.68 after rising nearly 300 points in early trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also edged down 3.21 points or 0.1 percent to 4,661.50, while the S&P 500 slid 5.23 points or 0.3 percent to 2,023.03.