Major Averages Posting Notable Gains In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher in early trading on Monday, stocks have continued to turn in a strong performance over the course of the session. The gains on the day are extending last week's upward move, lifting the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record highs.

Electronic storage stocks continue to see considerable strength in mid-day trading, with the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index up by 3.2 percent. With the gain, the index has risen to a two-month intraday high.

Quantum (QTM), EMC Corp. (EMC), and Hutchinson Technology (HTCH) are turning in some of the storage sector's best performances.

Significant strength is also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. The index has reached its best intraday level in almost seven months.

Biotechnology stocks are also turning in a particularly strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.9 percent to a record intraday high.

Steel, natural gas, and banking stocks are also seeing notable strength, moving to the upside along with most of the other major sectors.

Currently, the major averages remain firmly positive, near their highs for the session. The Dow is up 78.36 points or 0.5 percent at 16,299.50, the Nasdaq is up 35.83 points or 0.9 percent at 4,140.58 and the S&P 500 is up 9.90 points or 0.5 percent at 1,828.22.