S&P 500 Reaches New Record High As Stocks Extend Uptrend

(RTTNews) - While buying interest was somewhat subdued, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The gains on the day extended the recent upward trend by the markets, lifting the S&P 500 to a new record closing high.

Many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, although significant strength was visible among banking stocks. The Dow Jones Banks Index surged up by 1.8 percent, reaching its best closing level in over a month.

Bank of America (BAC) helped lead the banking sector higher, jumping 4.1 percent following news of its nearly $17 billion settlement with the government over its mortgage lending.

Considerable strength also emerged among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. With the gain, the index reached a six-month closing high.

Networking and computer hardware stocks also saw some strength on the day, although buying interest was somewhat subdued.

On the other hand, gold stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2 percent. The weakness in the sector came as gold for December delivery tumbled $19.80 to $1,274.50 an ounce.

Airline and biotechnology stocks also gave back some ground after moving notably higher over the past several sessions.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into close but still ended the day in positive territory. The Dow climbed 60.36 points or 0.4 percent to 17,039.49, the Nasdaq edged up 5.62 points or 0.1 percent to 4,532.10 and the S&P 500 rose 5.86 points or 0.3 percent to 1,992.37.