Major Averages Posting Modest Gains In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Monday. Buying interest has remained somewhat subdued, however, limiting the upside for the markets.

Railroad stocks have moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day, driving the Dow Jones Railroads Index up by 2.2 percent. With the gain, the index has reached a new record intraday high.

Guangshen Railway (GSH) has helped to lead the railroad sector higher, surging up by 5/7 percent. FreightCar America (RAIL) and American Railcar (ARII) are also posting strong gains.

Significant strength has also emerged among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. With the gain, the index has reached its best intraday level in four months.

Airline and trucking stocks are also seeing considerable strength on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index and the Dow Jones Trucking Index both climbing by 1.1 percent.

On the other hand, substantial weakness remains visible among gold stocks, resulting in a 5.1 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness in the sector comes as gold for December delivery is falling $11.70 to $1,158.10 an ounce.

Networking, steel, and oil service stocks have also moved to the downside, partly offsetting the strength seen in the aforementioned sectors.

The major averages have recently pulled back off their highs for the session but remain in positive territory. The Dow is up 30.10 points or 0.2 percent at 17,604.03, the Nasdaq is up 13.91 points or 0.3 percent at 4,646.44 and the S&P 500 is up 4.77 points or 0.2 percent at 2,036.69.