Major Averages Close Lower For The Session And The Week

(RTTNews) - While trading activity was relatively subdued, stocks saw moderate weakness during trading on Friday. With the pullback on the day, the major averages largely offset the gains posted in the previous session.

Airline stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 1.3 percent. With the loss, the index fell to its lowest closing level in almost a month.

Republic Airways (RJET) helped to lead the airline sector lower, with the regional airline slumping by 6.3 percent on the day.

Considerable weakness was also visible among tobacco stocks, as reflected by the 1 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index. Universal Corp. (UVV) and Alliance Once (AOI) posted steep losses.

While utilities and networking also moved to the downside on the day, the weakness was partly offset by strong gains by steel and gold stocks.

The major averages ended the day firmly in the red but well off their worst levels of the day. The Dow fell 72.81 points or 0.5 percent to 15,425.51, the Nasdaq slipped 9.02 points or 0.3 percent to 3,660.11 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.06 points or 0.4 percent to 1,691.42.

For the week, the Nasdaq slid by 0.8 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 dropped by 1.5 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.