Major Averages Close Firmly In Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, as traders reacted to a number of positive catalysts. The gains on the day partly offset the weakness seen in the previous session, with the Dow reaching a new record closing high.

After falling sharply in the two previous sessions, railroad stocks showed a strong move back to the upside. The Dow Jones Railroads Index soared by 3.5 percent after ending Monday's trading at its worst closing level in over a month.

Greenbrier (GBX) helped to lead the railroad sector higher, with the freight car equipment maker jumping by 8.3 percent.

Oil stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index up by 1.9 percent. The index continued to recover from last Friday's sell-off despite a decrease by the price of crude oil.

Brokerage, tobacco, banking and electronic storage stocks also saw significant strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

On the other hand, gold stocks moved sharply lower on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3.2 percent. The weakness in the sector came as gold for February delivery tumbled $18.70 to $1,199.40 an ounce.

The major averages all ended the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow climbed 102.75 points or 0.6 percent to 17,879.55, the Nasdaq rose 28.46 points or 0.6 percent to 4,755.81 and the S&P 500 advanced 13.11 points or 0.6 percent to 2,066.55.