Major Averages Slide Firmly Into The Red In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - After seeing some initial volatility, stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of early trading on Thursday. The major averages have slid firmly into negative territory, adding to the losses posted in the previous session.

The early weakness on Wall Street comes as traders continue to react negatively to yesterday's monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.

While the Fed maintained the pace of its asset purchases at $85 billion a month as was widely expected, the accompanying statement was seen as less dovish than anticipated.

The statement raised concerns that the Fed might not delay plans to begin tapering its stimulus program for as long as previously anticipated.

Gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, moving lower along with the price of the precious metal. With gold for December delivery plunging $27 to $1,322.30 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has tumbled by 2.4 percent.

Trucking, housing, and natural gas stocks have also come under pressure in early trading, while most of the other major sectors are seeing more modest weakness.

The major averages have seen some further downside in recent trading, hitting new lows for the young session. The Dow is down 43.02 points or 0.3 percent at 15,575.74, the Nasdaq is down 18.66 points or 0.5 percent at 3,911.96 and the S&P 500 is down 5.16 points or 0.3 percent at 1,758.15.