Major Averages Close Mixed After Seeing Early Strength

(RTTNews) - After moving moderately higher in morning trading on Thursday, stocks turned mixed over the course of the afternoon. Trepidation ahead of tomorrow's monthly jobs report likely contributed to the lackluster close by the markets.

Trucking stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the session, driving the Dow Jones Trucking Index up by 1.7 percent. With the gain, the index ended the session at its best closing level in a month.

Landstar (LSTR) helped to lead the trucking sector higher, advancing by 3.1 percent after holding its mid-quarter conference call.

Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The gain extended a recent upward trend by the index, which reached a nearly twelve-year closing high.

Gold, oil service, and steel stocks also moved notably higher on the day, potentially reflecting optimism about the outlook for demand.

On the other hand, biotechnology stocks came under considerable selling pressure, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 2.4 percent. ImmunoGen (IMGN), Exact Sciences (EXAS), and Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) posted steep losses.

Electronic storage and tobacco stocks also moved to the downside, partly offsetting the strength seen in the aforementioned sectors.

While the Dow and the S&P 500 managed to hold on to modest gains, the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid into negative territory and closed down 5.85 points or 0.1 percent at 4,352.13. The Dow rose 61.71 points or 0.4 percent to 16,421.89, and the S&P 500 edged up 3.22 points or 0.2 percent to 1,877.03.