Major Averages Finish Choppy Trading Day In Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - After turning in a lackluster performance for much of the session, stocks managed to end Wednesday's trading mostly higher. The gains lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs, while the Nasdaq reached its best levels since 2000.

Contributing to the notable advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, semiconductor stocks saw considerable strength throughout the session. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged up by 2.1 percent to its best closing level in over thirteen years.

Analog Devices (ADI) helped to lead the semiconductor sector higher, jumping by 5.5 percent after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results.

Significant strength also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The gain lifted the index to a new record closing high.

Commercial real estate, computer hardware, and pharmaceutical stocks also saw some strength on the day, although buying interest was somewhat subdued.

On the other hand, oil service stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.8 percent. The weakness in the sector came as crude oil for January delivery slid $0.40 to a four-year closing low of $73.69 a barrel.

Gold and natural gas stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, helping to limit the upside for the broader markets.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Dow edged up only 12.81 points or 0.1 percent to 17,827.75. The Nasdaq advanced 29.07 points or 0.6 percent to 4,787.32 and the S&P 500 climbed 5.80 points or 0.3 percent to 2,072.83.