Dow And S&P 500 Bounce Back To Nearly Two-Month Highs

(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen over the two previous sessions, stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Thursday. With the gains, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in nearly two months.

Biotechnology stocks turned in a particularly strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 4.3 percent. With the gain, the index offset the losses posted in the three previous sessions.

Within the biotech sector, Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR), Alnylam (ALNY), and Agios (AGIO) posted standout gains on the day.

Considerable strength was also visible among financial stocks, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the Dow Jones Banks Index jumping by 3.3 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Financial giant Citigroup (C) helped to lead the sector higher, surging up by 4.4 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings.

Airline, pharmaceutical, and natural gas stocks also saw significant strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages saw further upside going into close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow surged up 217.00 points or 1.3 percent to 17,141.75, the Nasdaq soared 87.25 points or 1.8 percent to 4,870.10 and the S&P 500 jumped 29.62 points or 1.5 percent to 2,023.86.