WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With renewed concerns about the economy weighing on the markets, stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Friday. The losses on the day have partly offset the strong upward move seen in the previous session.
Airline stocks continue to turn in some of the market's worst performances in mid-day trading, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index tumbling by 4.1 percent. With the drop, the index is pulling back further off the twelve-year highs it set on Monday.
Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings (HA) has led the sector lower, plunging by 26.6 percent after forecasting a drop by a key revenue figure in the first quarter.
Considerable weakness also remains visible among software stocks, which are extending a recent sell-off. The Dow Jones Software Index is falling by 2.2 percent to its lowest intraday level in over three months.
Electronic storage stocks are also extending a recent downward trend, dragging the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index down by 2 percent. The index has also fallen to a new three-month low.
Brokerage, transportation, and pharmaceutical stocks are also seeing significant weakness, while gold stocks are bucking the downtrend amid a sharp jump by the price of the precious metal.
The major averages have regained some ground in the past few minutes but currently remain stuck in the red. The Dow is down 132.81 points or 0.8 percent at 17,284.04, the Nasdaq is down 13.10 points or 0.3 percent at 4,670.31 and the S&P 500 is down 15.51 points or 0.8 percent at 2,005.74.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX