Major Averages Close Firmly Positive After Yesterday's Pullback

(RTTNews) - After moving modestly higher in early trading on Thursday, stocks saw some further upside over the course of the trading day. The gains on the day largely offset the pullback seen in the previous session, with the Dow reaching its best closing level in a month.

Gold stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside after ending the previous session sharply lower. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 4.1 percent, more than offsetting yesterday's loss to reach its best closing level in a month.

The strength among gold stocks came amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery climbing $16.30 to $1,350.30 an ounce.

Housing stocks also saw significant strength on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 2 percent. PulteGroup (PHM) helped to lead the sector higher after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. US Airways (LCC) posted a standout gain, jumping 5.9 percent to a nearly six-year high.

Biotechnology, semiconductor, and retail stocks also saw strength on the day, while weakness among networking and oil service stocks helped limit the upside for the markets.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but still ended the day firmly positive. The Dow jumped 95.88 points or 0.6 percent to 15,509.21, the Nasdaq climbed 21.89 points or 0.6 percent to 3,928.96 and the S&P 500 rose 5.69 points or 0.3 percent to 1,752.07.