Major Averages Close In Positive Territory, Nasdaq Outperforms

(RTTNews) - After failing to sustain an early move to the upside, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the session in positive territory.

While many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, considerable strength was visible among airline stocks. The NYSE Arca Airline Index surged up by 2.4 percent, climbing further off the three-month closing low it set on Monday.

Delta (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU), and Southwest (LUV) turned in some of the airline sector's best performances on the day.

Biotechnology stocks also saw significant strength, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.7 percent. Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) and Myriad Genetics (MYGN) posted standout gains.

Meanwhile, natural gas stocks came under pressure on the day, with the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index falling by 1.5 percent after ending the previous session at its best closing level in over a month.

The weakness among natural gas stocks came as the price of natural gas for May delivery fell $0.061 to $2.619 per million BTUs. Gold stocks also moved lower along with the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 1.4 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

While the major averages all closed higher, the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts. The Nasdaq advanced 40.59 points or 0.8 percent to 4,950.82, while the Dow edged up 27.09 points or 0.2 percent to 17,902.51 and the S&P 500 rose 5.5 points or 0.3 percent to 2,081.90.