Major Averages End Day Turning In Mixed Performance

(RTTNews) - After falling rather sharply in early trading on Tuesday, stocks staged a significant recovery over the course of the morning. Trading activity was somewhat subdued in the afternoon, however, resulting in a lackluster close by the markets.

While many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, substantial weakness was visible among electronic storage stocks. Reflecting the weakness in the storage sector, the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index tumbled 3.4 percent to a four-month closing low.

Imation (IMN) helped to lead the storage sector lower, falling by 5.9 percent, while Hutchinson Technology (HTCH) and Quantum (QTM) also posted notable losses.

Housing stocks also saw significant weakness on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.8 percent.

Biotechnology, commercial real estate, and gold stocks also ended the day firmly in the red, while some strength emerged among networking stocks.

The major averages ended the day mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a modest gain. While the Nasdaq inched up 3.27 points or 0.1 percent to 3,939.86, the Dow edged down 20.90 points or 0.1 percent to 15,618.22 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.96 points or 0.3 percent to 1,762.97.