Major Averages Close At Their Best Levels Of The Day

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday, as trader largely shrugged of a disappointing jobs report. The strength that emerged on Wall Street lifted the S&P 500 to another new record closing high.

Utilities stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the session, driving the Dow Jones Utilities Average up by 1.2 percent. With the gain, the average reached a two-month closing high.

PG&E (PCG), FirstEnergy (FE), and American Electric Power (AEP) turned in some of the utilities sector's best performances.

Significant strength also emerged among commercial real estate stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain posted by the Morgan Stanley REIT Index. The gain lifted the index to its best closing level in over a year.

Natural gas, semiconductor, and telecom stocks also saw some strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow rose 67.78 points or 0.4 percent to 17,137.36, the Nasdaq climbed 20.61 points or 0.5 percent to 4,582.90 and the S&P 500 advanced 10.06 points or 0.5 percent to 2,007.71.

With the gains on the day, the major averages all moved modestly higher for the week. The Nasdaq inched up by 0.1 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both edged up by 0.2 percent.