Steel Sector Wobbly On Weak Report From U.S. Steel Corp.

Steel stocks were off Wednesday after U.S. Steel Corp. X missed expectations by a wide margin and said difficult market conditions will continue to hurt results. The exchange-traded fund Market Vectors Steel SLX slipped more than 3 percent in Wednesday morning's session. U.S. Steel, which cut its outlook for full-year operating results by 36 percent Tuesday, changed hands recently down 11 percent to $23.89. After the bell Wednesday, the Pittsburgh-based steel maker posted an adjusted loss of $0.07 cents a share, versus expected EPS of $0.12 cents. Also perhaps weighing on the sector: iron ore miner Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. CLF substantially missed expectations Tuesday, and was trading down recently 4.6 percent to $5.60. AK Steel Holding Corp. AKS also missed first-quarter expectations Tuesday, by a 28 percent margin; AK shares traded down 4.6 percent Wednesday, to $5.11 a share. U. S. Steel Chief Executive Officer Mario Longhi said recent results reflect "extremely challenging market conditions" including lower prices which he blamed on imports as well as declining activity in the energy sector.