(RTTNews) - While selling pressure has waned from earlier in the session, stocks are seeing continued weakness in late morning trading on Thursday. The major averages remain firmly in negative territory, although they have moved off their worst levels of the day.

With many traders now looking past the economic stimulus bill and expressing concerns about the efficacy of the Obama administration’s proposed financial rescue plan, banking stocks continue to turn in some of the market’s worst performances.

The losses by banking stocks are contributing to a 5.9 percent loss by the Kbw Bank Sector Index, which has nearly offset the 6 percent gain that it posted on Wednesday. Zions Bancorp (ZION), Wells Fargo (WFC), and U.S. Bancorp (USB) are leading the way lower.

A variety of other sectors are also showing considerable weakness, with real estate, housing, railroad, and steel stocks posting substantial losses. On the other hand, some airline and health insurance stocks are bucking the downtrend.

The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, stuck well below the unchanged line. The Dow is currently down 160.73 at 7,778.80, the Nasdaq is down 15.89 at 1,514.61 and the S&P 500 is down 16.81 at 816.93.

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Posted in Categories: Economy, Releases, USA.

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