Dow Reaches New Record Closing High

(RTTNews) - After experiencing choppy trading for much of the previous session, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. With the gains on the day, the Dow closed higher for the fourth consecutive session, reaching a new record high.

Gold stocks showed a strong move to the upside on the day, partly offsetting the significant weakness seen in the previous session. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index jumped by 1.8 percent after plunging by 3 percent on Tuesday.

The rebound by gold stocks came amid a modest increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for August delivery climbing $2.70 to $1,299.80 an ounce.

Optimism about Chinese demand also contributed to significant strength among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The index has moved back within striking distance of the six-month highs set earlier this month.

Software stocks also moved notably higher over the course of the session, driving the Dow Jones Software Index up by 1.6 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in over thirteen years.

Computer hardware, energy, and semiconductor stocks also moved to the upside on the day, while some weakness was visible among biotech and banking stocks.

The major averages all ended the day moderately higher. The Dow climbed 77.52 points or 0.5 percent to 17,138.20, the Nasdaq rose 9.58 points or 0.2 percent to 4,425.97 and the S&P 500 advanced 8.29 points or 0.4 percent to 1,981.57.