Major Averages Hovering Firmly In Positive Territory In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved notably higher over the course of the trading day on Friday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 more than offsetting yesterday's losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is adding to the modest gain it posted on Thursday to reach its best levels since early 2000.

While most of the major sectors have moved to the upside on the day, gold stocks are posting particularly strong gains in mid-day trading. Reflecting the strength in the gold sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index has surged up by 3.8 percent.

The strong gains by gold stocks come amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery climbing $11.80 to $1,180.80 an ounce.

Considerable strength has also emerged among housing stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. With the gain, the index has reached its best intraday level in almost eight years.

KB Home (KBH) has helped to lead the housing sector higher, with the homebuilder soaring by 8.4 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter results.

Energy stocks also continue to turn in a strong performance amid an increase by the price of crude oil. Crude for May delivery is currently jumping $1.37 to $46.90 a barrel.

Notable strength is also visible among steel, computer hardware, and banking stocks, reflecting broad based buying interest.

Currently, the major averages are hovering near their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 193.61 points or 1.1 percent at 18,152.64, the Nasdaq is up 41.82 points or 0.8 percent at 5,034.20 and the S&P 500 is up 19.86 points or 1 percent at 2,109.13.