Major Averages Show Substantial Move To The Downside

(RTTNews) - With upbeat economic data raising concerns about the outlook for the Federal Reserve's stimulus program, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday. Traders also used the pullback as an opportunity to cash in on some of the recent strength in the markets.

Most of the major sectors showed notable moves to the downside, reflecting the broad based weakness that emerged on Wall Street.

Telecom stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Telecom Index down by 2.8 percent. With the loss, the index pulled back well off yesterday's five-year closing high.

CenturyLink (CTL) helped to lead the telecom sector lower, tumbling by 6.1 percent after providing disappointing fourth quarter earnings guidance.

Significant weakness was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness in the sector came as gold for December delivery fell $9.30 to $1,308.50 an ounce.

Tobacco, natural gas, airline, and steel stocks also saw considerable weakness, with Schweitzer-Mauduit (SWM) leading the tobacco sector lower after reporting weaker than expected third quarter results.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session near their worst levels of the day. The Dow tumbled 152.90 points or 1 percent to 15,593.98, the Nasdaq plummeted 74.61 points or 1.9 percent to 3,857.33 and the S&P 500 plunged 23.34 points or 1.3 percent to 1,747.15.