Major Averages Pull Back Into Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday after seeing some early volatility. The pullback on the day is extending the downward move seen in the previous session, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq falling to its lowest intraday level in well over a month.

After turning lower over the course of the previous session, airline stocks are seeing some further downside. The NYSE Arca Airline Index has fallen by 1.5 percent, pulling back further off the nearly twelve-year high set in early trading on Wednesday.

Spirit Airlines (SAVE), Hawaiian Airlines (HA), and SkyWest (SKYW) are turning in some of the airline sector's worst performances.

Banking stocks have also come under pressure on the day, dragging the Dow Jones Banks Index down by 1.4 percent. Citigroup (C) is leading the sector lower, tumbling by 5.7 percent after failing the Federal Reserve's stress test.

Brokerage, chemical, and semiconductor stocks have also moved to the downside, while some strength remains visible among natural gas and telecom stocks.

The major averages have regained some ground in the past few minutes but remain in the red. The Dow is down 33.11 points or 0.2 percent at 16,235.88, the Nasdaq is down 30.17 points or 0.7 percent at 4,143.41 and the S&P 500 is down 7.30 points or 0.4 percent at 1,845.26.