Major Averages Close Firmly Positive, Nasdaq Reaches 13-Year High

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session firmly in the red, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. With the strength on the day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a new thirteen-year closing high.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders largely shrugged off concerns about the economic impact of the government shutdown that took effect at midnight.

Healthcare-related stocks showed a strong upward move on the day, which marked the launch of the health insurance exchanges, a big part of President Obama's healthcare reform law.

Reflecting the strength in the sector, the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index and the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Provider Index advanced by 2.2 percent and 1.9 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 after agreeing to sell Frontier Airlines to an affiliate of Indigo Partners in a deal valued at about $145 million.

Biotechnology, commercial real estate, and internet stocks also saw significant strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

However, gold stocks bucked the uptrend by the broader markets amid a sharp drop by the price of the precious metal. With gold for December delivery tumbling $40.90 to $1,286.10 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index dropped by 2.5 percent.

The major averages moved to the upside going into the close, ending the day notably higher. The Dow rose 62.03 points or 0.4 percent to 15,191.70, the Nasdaq jumped 46.50 points or 1.2 percent to 3,817.98 and the S&P 500 climbed 13.45 points or 0.8 percent to 1,695.00.