(RTTNews) - After moving sharply lower at the open, stocks have seen some further downside over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages have all moved firmly into negative territory, pulling back well off their recent highs.

The weakness in the markets comes as traders cash in on the recent strength in the markets, with a Labor Department report showing that weekly jobless claims remain above 500,000 generating some negative sentiment.

Semiconductor stocks are turning in some of the market’s worst performances, as reflected by the 4.3 percent loss currently being shown by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The weakness in the sector comes on the heels of some negative analyst comments.

Considerable weakness has also emerged in a variety of other sectors, reflecting broad based selling pressure. Airline, steel, oil service, and housing stocks are posting particularly steep losses in late morning trading.

In the past few minutes, the major averages have edged up off their worst levels of the day, although they remain sharply lower. The Dow is currently down 153.34 at 10,272.97, the Nasdaq is down 47.39 at 2,145.75 and the S&P 500 is down 19.58 at 1,090.22.

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Posted in Categories: Economy, Releases, USA.

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