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Major Averages Pull Back Firmly Into Negative Territory(Alliance News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - After showing a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday, stocks have recently come under pressure amid reports that a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane has crashed in eastern Ukraine. The major averages pulled back firmly into negative territory on the news. The weakness that has emerged on Wall Street comes on the heels of an Interfax report that a Malaysia Airlines plane with 295 people on board crashed near the Ukraine-Russia border. The report of a crash in an area where the Ukrainian government has been fighting pro-Russian rebels has led to speculation that the plane was shot down. Following yesterday's rally on the heels of Intel's (INTC) upbeat earnings news, semiconductor stocks have shown a substantial move back to the downside. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has fallen by 2.1%, pulling back off the thirteen-year closing high set on Wednesday. SanDisk (SNDK) has helped to lead the semiconductor sector lower, with the chipmaker tumbling by 13% after reporting better than expected second quarter earnings but providing disappointing revenue guidance. Significant weakness has also emerged among airline stocks, which fell sharply following the news out of Ukraine. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Airline Index is down by 1.9%. Housing stocks have also come under pressure on the heels of disappointing housing starts data, resulting in a 1.7% drop by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. With the loss, the index has fallen to its lowest intraday level in over a month. Natural gas, steel, and oil service stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while gold stocks have shown a strong move to the upside along with the price of the precious metal. In recent trading, the major averages have seen further downside, falling to new lows for the session. The Dow is down 87.95 points or 0.5% at 17,050.25, the Nasdaq is down 43.89 points or 1% at 4,382.08 and the S&P 500 is down 14.81 points or 0.8% at 1,966.76. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX |