Major Averages Manage To Close In Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but managed to end the session mostly higher. A positive reaction to the latest batch of U.S. economic data helped the markets recover from the pullback seen over the two previous sessions.

Airline stocks showed a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 1.6 percent. With the gain, the index ended the day just shy of the nearly twelve-year closing high set a week ago.

Delta (DAL) and American (AAL) turned in two of the airline sector's best performances, advancing by 3.3 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, which rebounded after ending the previous session notably lower. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index rose by 1.6 percent.

Steel, oil service, telecom, and pharmaceutical stocks also saw significant strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages ended the day in positive territory but off their highs for the session. The Dow climbed 91.19 points or 0.6 percent to 16,367.88, the Nasdaq edged up 7.88 points or 0.2 percent to 4,234.27 and the S&P 500 rose 8.18 points or 0.4 percent to 1,865.62.