Dow And S&P 500 Rising To New Highs For The Session

(RTTNews) - With traders reacting positively to a batch of U.S. economic data, stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. The gains on the day are extending yesterday's upward move, with the S&P 500 setting a new record high.

Railroad stocks are seeing significant strength in mid-day trading, with the Dow Jones Railroads Index advancing by 1.2 percent. The index has moved toward the high end of a recent range and is currently poised to set a new record closing high.

American Railcar (ARII), Norfolk Southern (NSC), and FreightCar America (RAIL) are turning in some of the railroad sector's best performances.

Oil service, chemical, and utilities stocks have also moved to the upside on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages have moved to the upside in recent trading, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new highs. The Dow is up 114.69 points or 0.7 percent at 16,387.34, the Nasdaq is up 21.12 points or 0.5 percent at 4,340.05 and the S&P 500 is up 13.24 points or 0.7 percent at 1,867.53.