Dow And S&P 500 Once Again Reach New Record Highs

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, benefiting from a positive reaction to upbeat economic data. The gains on the day extended Wednesday's rally, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record highs. The Nasdaq also reached its best levels since 2000.

Extending a recent upward trend, computer hardware stocks saw significant strength on the day. The NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index surged up by 2.3 percent, reaching a new record high.

Seagate Technology (STX) and Lexmark (LXK) turned in two of the hardware sector's best performances, jumping by 6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.

Considerable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Republic Airways (RJET) helped lead the sector higher, soaring by 8.7 percent.

Biotechnology stocks also turned in a particularly strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.8 percent.

Brokerage, networking, software, and housing stocks also moved notably higher, while steel stocks bucked the uptrend by the broader markets.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the close but still ended the day in positive territory. The Dow rose 42.06 points or 0.3 percent to 16,221.14, the Nasdaq surged up 46.61 points or 1.2 percent to 4,104.74 and the S&P 500 advanced 8.71 points or 0.5 percent to 1,818.31.

For the week, the major averages all showed strong move to the upside. The Dow shot up by 3 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 jumped by 2.6 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.