Major Averages Close Mixed But S&P 500 Still Sets Record High

(RTTNews) - After seeing strength for much of the trading day on Friday, stocks saw considerable volatility in the latter part of the session. The major averages showed big swings in the final two hours of trading before eventually ending the session mixed.

Biotechnology stocks came under considerable selling pressure in afternoon trading, contributing to a 2.2 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. With the loss, the index pulled back further off the record closing high it set on Tuesday.

ImmunoGen (IMGN) and Exact Sciences (EXAS) turned in two of the biotech sector's worst performances, falling by 7.2 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively.

Significant weakness also emerged among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Logitech (LOGI) and Western Digital (WDC) posted notable losses.

Meanwhile, railroad stocks held on to their early gains, resulting in a 1.1 percent gain by the Dow Jones Railroads Index. Providence and Worcester (PWX) helped to lead the sector higher, jumping 6.1 percent.

Notable strength was also visible among oil service stocks, which benefited from a modest increase by the price of crude oil. With crude for April delivery climbing $0.19 to $102.59 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index rose by 1.1 percent.

While the major averages closed well off their intraday highs, the S&P 500 still climbed 5.16 points or 0.3 percent to a new record closing high of 1,859.45. The Dow also rose 49.06 points or 0.3 percent to 16,321.71, while the Nasdaq slid 10.81 points or 0.3 percent to 4,308.12.

Despite the mixed performance on the day, the major averages all moved higher for the week. The Dow and the S&P 500 jumped 1.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, while the Nasdaq advanced by 1 percent.