Dow And S&P 500 Set New Record Closing Highs

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session narrowly mixed, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The gains on the day lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to record closing highs, while the Nasdaq reached its best levels since 2000.

While most of the major sectors moved to the upside on the day, airline stocks posted particularly strong gains. Reflecting the strength in the airline sector, the NYSE Arca Airline Index surged up by 2.4 percent.

Volaris (VLRS) and Delta (DAL) turned in two of the airline sector's best performances, jumping by 5.4 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.

Biotechnology stocks also showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 2.2 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in well over three months.

Significant strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. The gain lifted the index to a new record closing high.

Internet, semiconductor, and healthcare stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while gold and utilities stocks bucked the uptrend.

The major averages pulled back off their highs for the session in afternoon trading but remained firmly positive. The Dow advanced 129.47 points or 0.8 percent to 16,956.07, the Nasdaq jumped 50.47 points or 1.1 percent to 4,458.65 and the S&P 500 climbed 13.09 points or 0.7 percent to 1,973.32.