Major Averages Close Higher Following Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on Monday before ending the day mostly higher. The gains on the day extended the upward move seen over the past few sessions.

While many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, substantial strength was visible among gold stocks. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 3.1 percent to its best closing level in almost three months.

The strength among gold stocks came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery climbing $11.80 to $1,274.70 an ounce.

Biotechnology and computer hardware stocks also saw significant strength on the day, contributing to the advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Meanwhile, steel stocks came under considerable selling pressure, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 1.6 percent. The pullback by the index came after it closed higher for four straight days.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq advanced 22.31 points or 0.5 percent to 4,148.17, the Dow inched up 7.71 points or 0.1 percent to 15,801.79 and the S&P 500 edged up 2.82 points or 0.2 percent to 1,799.84.