(RTTNews) - After seeing a positive bias throughout much of the session, stocks showed a notable move to the downside in the latter part of the trading day on Tuesday. Buying interest reemerged in the final minutes of trading, however, and the markets ended the day roughly flat.
Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moved following the volatility that was seen in the final hour of trading.
Nonetheless, electronic storage stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index down by 2.3 percent. Seagate Technology (STX) and Western Digital (WDC) turned in two of the sector's worst performances.
Significant weakness was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. GOL Linhas (GOL) helped to lead the sector lower, with the Brazilian airline tumbling by 8.4 percent.
Meanwhile, housing stocks managed to end the day notably higher following the upbeat existing home sales. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index rose by 1.3 percent, climbing further off last Friday's one-month closing low.
Banking stock also saw considerable strength on the day, resulting in a 1.1 percent gain by the KBW Bank Index. JP Morgan (JPM) helped to lead the way higher, advancing by 4.6 percent.
While the Nasdaq remained stuck in the red, the Dow and the S&P 500 closed nearly unchanged. The Nasdaq dipped 8.13 points or 0.3 percent to 2,839.08, while the Dow edged down 1.67 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 12,502.81 and the S&P 500 crept up 0.64 points or 0.1 percent to 1,316.63.
