Dow Closes Above 17,000 For The First Time

(RTTNews) - After moving moderately higher in early trading, stocks saw some further upside over the course of the abbreviated trading day on Thursday. The markets benefited from a positive reaction to better than expected employment data.

Tobacco stocks showed strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index up by 1.7 percent. Despite the gain, the index remains well off the seven-month closing high it set last month.

Lorillard (LO) helped lead the tobacco sector higher after CNBC's David Faber reported that Reynolds (RAI) is on track to acquire the company within weeks.

Considerable strength was also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. With the gain, the index reached a three-month closing high.

Steel stocks also turned in a strong performance amid optimism about the outlook for demand. The NYSE Arca Steel Index advanced by 1.2 percent to its best closing level in six months.

Telecom, electronic storage, and banking stocks also saw some strength on the day, while utilities stocks pulled back further off their recent highs.

The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory, with the Dow closing above 17,000 for the first time. The Dow rose 92.02 points or 0.5 percent to 17,068.26, the Nasdaq advanced 28.19 points or 0.6 percent to 4,485.93 and the S&P 500 climbed 10.82 points or 0.6 percent to 1,985.44.

For the week, the major averages all posted notable gains. The Nasdaq surged up by 2 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 jumped by 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.