Major Averages Slide Firmly Into The Red In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower in early trading on Tuesday, adding to the modest losses posted in the previous session. The major averages have slid firmly into negative territory, further offsetting the rally that was seen last Friday.

The early weakness on Wall Street is partly due to concerns about the global economy following the release of more disappointing German economic data.

After reporting a steep drop in German factory orders on Monday, the German Federal Statistical Office released a report showing that German industrial output fell 4 percent in August compared to economist estimates for a 1.5 percent decrease.

Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, said the data "all but confirmed that German industry is back in recession and underlined the need for both the ECB and the German Government to give the euro-zone's biggest economy much more policy support."

Traders also continue to express concerns about the outlook for U.S. monetary policy ahead of the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday.

Airline stocks have shown a significant move to the downside in early trading, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 1.4 percent. Despite the drop, the index remains well off the five-month lows set last week.

Considerable weakness has also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Exact Sciences (EXAS) and Pharmacyclics (PCYC) are posting steep losses.

Railroad, gold, and pharmaceutical stocks are also seeing early weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Currently, the major averages are posting notable losses but are off their lows for the young session. The Dow is down 121.99 points or 0.7 percent at 16,869.92, the Nasdaq is down 29.50 points or 0.7 percent at 4,425.30 and the S&P 500 is down 12.09 point or 0.6 percent at 1,952.73.