Dow And S&P 500 Reach Best Closing Levels In Over A Month

(RTTNews) - After moving in opposite directions early on Thursday, stocks moved mostly higher in reaction to the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting. The gains on the day extended a recent upward trend, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching their best levels in well over a month.

Considerable strength emerged among energy stocks on the day, as reflected by the 2.6 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index. With the gain, the index reached a nearly two-month closing high.

The strength in the energy sector came amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for November delivery jumping $1.62 to $49.43 a barrel.

Steel stocks also showed a strong move to the upside, extending the upward trend seen over the past few sessions. The NYSE Arca Steel Index surged up by 2.5 percent, reaching its best closing level in well over a month.

Brazil's CSN (SID), Ryerson (RYI) and Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) turned in some of the steel sector's best performances.

Railroad stocks also saw significant strength on the day, resulting in a 2.1 percent gain by the Dow Jones Railroads Index. American Railcar (ARII) led the sector higher, surging up by 19.4 percent.

Networking, computer hardware, and chemical stocks also turned in strong performances, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages closed firmly positive but off their highs for the session. The Dow climbed 138.46 points or 0.8 percent to 17,050.75, the Nasdaq rose 19.64 points or 0.4 percent to 4,810.79 and the S&P 500 advanced 17.60 points or 0.9 percent to 2,013.43.