Major Averages Remain Firmly Positive After Early Upward Move

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher in early trading on Tuesday, stocks continued to perform well throughout much of the session. While buying interest waned, the major averages managed to remain firmly in positive territory.

While most of the major sectors moved to the upside, computer hardware stocks posted particularly strong gains on the day. The NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index surged up by 3.2 percent, reaching a new record closing high.

Logitech (LOGI), Seagate Technology (STX), and Western Digital (WDC) turned in some of the hardware sector's best performances.

Considerable strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Pharmacyclics (PCYC) helped lead the sector higher on positive drug trial news.

Healthcare stocks also saw significant strength, resulting in a 1.1 percent gain by the Dow Jones Health Care Index. With the gain, the index reached a record closing high.

Networking, software, and oil stocks also moved notably higher on the day, benefiting from broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

The major averages continued to move roughly sideways going into the close. The Dow ended the day up 105.84 points or 0.6 percent at 16,530.94, the Nasdaq jumped 39.50 points or 1 percent to 4,153.18 and the S&P 500 climbed 11.11 points or 0.6 percent to 1,837.88.