Major Averages Partly Offset Yesterday's Gains

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, partly offsetting the upward move seen in the previous session. Selling pressure was relatively subdued, however, limiting the downside for the markets.

Semiconductor stocks moved sharply lower on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.1 percent. With the drop, the index fell to its lowest closing level in well over nine months.

Considerable weakness was also visible among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. Datalink (DTLK) helped lead the sector lower, falling by 5.3 percent.

After ending the previous session sharply higher, gold stocks also gave back some ground over the course of the trading day. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index fell by 1.6 percent, partly offsetting the 4.1 percent gain posted on Monday.

The pullback by gold stocks came amid a modest decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery slipping $1.50 to $1,116.90 an ounce.

Steel, airline, and networking stocks also saw notable weakness, while housing stocks moved higher on the heels of the upbeat housing starts data.

The major averages finished the session in the red but off their worst levels of the day. The Dow edged down 33.84 points or 0.2 percent to 17,511.34, the Nasdaq slid 32.35 points or 0.6 percent to 5,059.35 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.52 points or 0.3 percent to 2,096.92.