Major Averages Lingering Near Their Worst Levels Of The Day

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure earlier in the session, stocks continue to see substantial weakness in mid-day trading on Thursday. The Dow has fallen to a six-month low, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have both hit their worst levels in over a month.

Networking stocks have moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day, dragging the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 2.4 percent. The index fell to its lowest intraday level in nearly a month earlier in the session.

Infinera (INFN) and Ciena (CIEN) are turning in two of the networking sector's worst performances, falling by 7.5 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively.

Significant weakness has also emerged among internet stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent loss being posted by the Dow Jones Internet Index. Netflix (NFLX) has helped to lead the sector lower, tumbling by 6.6 percent.

Banking stocks also continue to see considerable weakness in mid-day trading, with the Dow Jones Banks Index down by 2 percent. With the decrease, the index has fallen to its lowest intraday level in over a month.

Transportation, semiconductor, consumer discretionary and software stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while gold stocks are bucking the downtrend amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, lingering near their lows for the session. The Dow is down 229.46 points or 1.3 percent at 17,119.27, the Nasdaq is down 89.60 points or 1.8 percent at 4,929.46 and the S&P 500 is down 25.42 points or 1.2 percent at 2.054.19.