Major Averages Close Higher But Off Their Best Levels Of The Day

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session roughly flat, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The markets benefited from a largely positive reaction to the weaker than expected September jobs report.

Extending a recent upward trend, gold stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 4.4 percent to 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 $26.80 to $1,342.60 an ounce.

Housing stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, resulting in a 2.4 percent advance by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. The index also reached a one-month closing high amid strong gains by M/I Homes (MHO) and Lennar (LEN).

Significant strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Illumina (ILMN) helped lead the sector higher on upbeat earnings news.

Airline, utilities, and pharmaceutical stocks also posted strong gains on the day, while electronic storage stocks showed a notable move to the downside.

The major averages ended the day in positive territory but off their highs for the session. The Dow rose 75.46 points or 0.5 percent to 15,467.66, the Nasdaq edged up 9.52 points or 0.2 percent to 3,929.57 and the S&P 500 climbed 10.01 points or 0.6 percent to a new record closing high of 1.754.67.