Major Averages Lingering Modestly Below The Unchanged Line

(RTTNews) - After moving to the downside early in the session, stocks continue to see modest weakness in mid-day trading on Thursday. Selling pressure has remained relatively subdued, however, limiting the downside for the markets.

Oil service stocks are turning in some of the market's worst performances after seeing substantial strength in the previous session. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index is falling by 1.7 percent after ending Wednesday's trading at its best closing level in well over four months.

The weakness among oil service stocks comes amid a pullback by the price of crude oil, with crude for May delivery sliding $0.73 to $55.66 a barrel after soaring $3.10 to $56.39 a barrel on Wednesday.

Housing stocks have also come under pressure on the heels of disappointing housing starts data, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.3 percent. Hovnanian (HOV) and Toll Brothers (TOL) are posting steep losses.

Steel, gold, and utilities stocks are also seeing significant weakness in mid-day trading, while considerable strength is visible among tobacco and airline stocks.

While the Dow briefly peeked above the unchanged line in recent trading, the major averages are currently all in the red. The Dow is down 22.09 points or 0.1 percent at 18,090.52, the Nasdaq is down 5.66 points or 0.1 percent at 5,005.36 and the S&P 500 is down 3.10 points or 0.2 percent at 2,103.53.