Major Averages Close Near Their Best Levels Of The Day

(RTTNews) - Following the sell-off seen in the previous session, stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Friday. The gains more than offset Thursday's losses, although the major averages still closed shy of Tuesday's highs.

While most of the major sectors moved to the upside on the day, gold stocks posted particularly strong gains. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 6.2 percent to its best closing level in a month.

The rally by gold stocks came amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, as gold for February delivery jumped $22.90 to $1,084.10 an ounce.

Banking stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, resulting in a 2.8 percent gain by the Dow Jones Banks Index. Northern Trust (NTRS), SunTrust (STI) and KeyCorp (KEY) posted standout gains.

Significant strength was also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Software Index. With the gain, the index reached a fifteen-year closing high.

Biotechnology, health care, networking, and airline stocks also saw notable strength, while energy stocks came under pressure amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.

The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, hovering near their best levels of the day. The Dow soared 369.96 points or 2.1 percent to 17,847.63, the Nasdaq jumped 104.74 points or 2.1 percent to 5,142.27 and the S&P 500 surged up 42.07 points or 2.1 percent to 2,091.69.

With the gains on the day, the major averages moved modestly higher for the week. The Nasdaq rose by 0.3 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 edged up by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.