Dow And S&P 500 Close Firmly Positive, Nasdaq Posts Modest Gain

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher in early trading on Monday, stocks continued to perform well throughout much of the session. While buying interest was somewhat subdued, the major averages added to the strong gains posted last week.

Many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, although considerable strength was visible among utilities stocks. Reflecting the strength in the utilities sector, the Dow Jones Utilities Average rose by 1.3 percent.

Exelon (EXC) and NiSource (NI) turned in two of the utilities sector's best performances, climbing by 2.4 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

Significant strength was also visible among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Retail Index. With the gain, the index reached a record closing high.

Meanwhile, semiconductor stocks came under pressure on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2 percent. Intel (INTC) helped lead the sector lower following some disappointing analyst comments.

Gold stocks also showed a notable move to the downside, resulting in a 1.7 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness among gold stocks came despite an increase by the price of the precious metal.

The major averages all ended the day in positive territory, although the Nasdaq posted a relatively modest gain. The Nasdaq edged up 5.45 points or 0.2 percent to 3,484.83, while the Dow rose 88.85 points or 0.6 percent to 15,224.69 and the S&P 500 climbed 8.57 points or 0.5 percent to 1,640.46.