Major Averages Stuck Firmly In The Red In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - With traders cashing in on last year's strength, stocks have moved notably lower during the first trading day of 2014. After coming under pressure early in the session, the markets continue to see significant weakness in mid-day trading.

Tobacco stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index down by 2.3 percent. Universal (UVV) and Schweitzer-Mauduit (SVM) are turning in two of the sector's worst performances.

Considerable weakness has also emerged among steel stocks, with the disappointing Chinese data weighing on the sector. The NYSE Arca Steel Index is down by 2.4 percent, pulling back off the eleven-month closing high set on Tuesday.

Oil service, computer hardware, and telecom stocks are also seeing significant weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

However, gold stocks are bucking the downtrend on the day, benefiting from a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal. With gold for February delivery jumping $22.30 to $1,224.60 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has surged up by 2.8 percent.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, stuck firmly in negative territory. The Dow is down 124.76 points or 0.8 percent at 16,451.90, the Nasdaq is down 37.01 points or 0.9 percent at 4,139.58 and the S&P 500 is down 15.93 points or 0.9 percent at 1,832.43.