Major Averages Close Higher For Fourth Time In Five Sessions

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session moderately higher, stocks saw some further upside over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. With the gains, the major averages closed higher for the fourth time in the last five sessions.

Networking stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 3 percent. The index continued to regain ground after ending last Friday's trading at its lowest closing level in over a month.

Ciena (CIEN) helped to lead the networking sector higher, with the telecom equipment maker surging up by 13.8 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Cirrus Logic (CRUS), Lam Research (LRCX) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) posted notable gains.

Biotechnology stocks also turned in a strong performance, resulting in 2.1 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The gain lifted the index to its best closing level in a month.

Brokerage, oil service, and railroad stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Within the brokerage sector, E*Trade (ETFC) posted a standout gain after announcing that its E*TRADE Bank subsidiary has received regulatory approval to dividend capital to the parent company.

The major averages moved roughly sideways in afternoon trading, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Dow rose 96.91 points or 0.7 percent to 14,930.87, the Nasdaq climbed 36.43 points or 1 percent to 3,649.04 and the S&P 500 advanced 13.31 points or 0.8 percent to 1,653.08.