Major Averages Close Firmly Positive But Off Best Levels

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, partly offsetting the sell-off that was seen in the previous session. The markets benefited from bargain hunting following recent weakness, although buying interest was somewhat subdued.

Natural gas stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index up by 2.1 percent. Ultra Petroleum (UPL) and EOG Resources (EOG) posted standout gains.

The strength among natural gas stocks came amid a notable increase by the price of natural gas, with natural gas for March delivery jumping nearly 10 percent to $5.375 per million BTUs.

Significant strength was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. Anixter International (AXE) helped lead the sector higher, surging up by 8.3 percent after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results.

Bargain hunting also contributed to considerable strength among steel stocks. After ending the previous session at a nearly five-month closing low, the NYSE Arca Steel Index jumped 1.6 percent.

Brokerage, railroad, commercial real estate, and airline stocks also saw notable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory but well off their highs for the session. The Dow rose 72.44 points or 0.5 percent to 15,445.24, the Nasdaq climbed 34.56 points or 0.9 percent to 4,031.52 and the S&P 500 advanced 13.31 points or 0.8 percent to 1,755.20.