WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the strong performance that was seen last week, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading day on Monday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before ending the day roughly flat.
Despite the lack of direction shown by the broader markets, utilities stocks saw significant strength on the day. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the Dow Jones Utilities Average advanced by 1.2 percent to a new record closing high.
American Water Works (AWK) helped to lead the utilities sector higher, with the water and wastewater services provider jumping by 3.4 percent.
Considerable strength was also visible among natural gas stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. The strength in the sector came as natural gas for February delivery surged up by $0.166 to $3.199 per million BTUs.
On the other hand, gold stocks saw significant weakness on the day, moving lower along with the price of the precious metal. With gold for February delivery falling $13.40 to $1,181.90 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index dropped by 2.7 percent.
Halting a seven-day winning streak, the Dow edged down 15.48 points or 0.1 percent to 18,038.23. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq inched up 0.05 points to 4,806.91, and the S&P 500 ticked up 1.80 points or 0.1 percent to a new record closing high of 2,090.57.
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© 2014 AFX News
