Major Averages Turning In Mixed Performance Amide Choppy Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks have fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday, as traders continue to digest yesterday's monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve as well as some mixed earnings news and economic data.

While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, substantial weakness remains visible among gold stocks. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has plunged by 3.1 percent, pulling back further off the one-month highs set on Monday.

The weakness among gold stocks comes amid a sharp drop by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery tumbling $25.70 to $1,323.60 an ounce.

Trucking stocks have also come under pressure on the day, dragging the Dow Jones Trucking Index down by 1.5 percent. Con-way (CNW) has helped to lead the sector lower, falling by 9.1 percent after reporting disappointing third quarter results.

Meanwhile, networking stocks have shown a strong move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 1.6 percent. Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) has jumped by 14.2 percent on optimistic comments from CEO Michel Combes.

Notable strength has also emerged among semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rising by 1 percent to a six-year high.

The major averages have been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line and are currently mixed. While the Nasdaq is up 3.24 points or 0.1 percent at 3,933.86, the Dow is down 24.89 points or 0.2 percent at 15,593.87 and the S&P 500 is down 0.78 points or less than 0.1 percent at 1,762.53.