Major Averages Close Sharply Higher On The Day, Flat For The Week

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Friday, adding to the modest gains posted in the previous session. The strong gains on the day lifted the major averages further off the multi-month closing lows set on Wednesday.

Adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session, airline stocks saw substantial strength on the day. The NYSE Arca Airline Index surged up by 3.5 percent, climbing further off the eight-month closing low set on Wednesday.

Alaska Air Group (ALK) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) turned in two of the sector's best performances, jumping by 6 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.

Considerable strength was also visible among pharmaceutical stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index. Sanofi (SNY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) posted standout gains.

Semiconductor stocks also turned in a strong performance after coming under pressure in the previous session. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index shot up by 1.9 percent, bouncing off its worst closing level in nearly eight months.

Tobacco, networking, brokerage, and housing stock also saw notable strength, reflecting broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, gold stocks were among the few groups to buck the uptrend, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1 percent. The weakness in the sector came amid a modest decrease by the price of gold.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow jumped 211.79 points or 1.2 percent to 17,760.41, the Nasdaq soared 75.30 points or 1.5 percent to 4,997.70 and the S&P 500 surged up 25.31 points or 1.2 percent to 2,076.62.

With the volatility seen over the past few sessions, the major averages closed roughly flat for the week. While the Dow crept up by 0.2 percent, the Nasdaq edged down by 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 was nearly unchanged.