Major Averages Close Mixed After Seeing Initial Weakness

(RTTNews) - Stocks staged a significant recovery after coming under pressure in early trading on Wednesday but were unable to sustain the upward move. The major averages subsequently ended the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

Reflecting the lackluster close by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.

Significant weakness remained visible among utilities stocks, however, with the Dow Jones Utilities Average tumbling by 2 percent. With the drop, the average pulled back further off the record closing high it set a week ago.

Exelon (EXC) and PSEG (PEG turned in two of the utilities sector's worst performances, falling by 3.5 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Natural gas stocks also came under pressure over the course of the trading day, dragging the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index down by 1.4 percent. The weakness in the sector came as natural gas for December delivery slid $0.062 to $4.185 per million BTUs.

Oil and commercial real estate stocks also saw some weakness on the day, while strength was visible among trucking and telecom stocks.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq managed to climb into positive territory, the Dow and the S&P 500 posted modest losses. The Nasdaq rose 14.58 points or 0.3 percent to 4,675.14, while the Dow edged down 2.70 points or less than 0.1 percent to 17,612.20 and the S&P 500 dipped 1.43 points or 0.1 percent to 2,038.25.