Major Averages Close At Their Best Levels Of The Day

(RTTNews) - With traders picking up stocks at somewhat reduced levels, significant strength was visible on Wall Street on Friday. The strong gains on the day partly offset the sell-off that was seen in the previous session.

Bargain hunting contributed to substantial strength in the biotech sector, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index jumping by 3.3 percent after falling to a two-month closing low on Thursday.

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) helped to lead the biotech sector higher, soaring by 20.6 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter results.

Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Semiconductor Index. The gain by the index came after it ended the previous session at its lowest closing level in a month.

Airline stocks also showed a strong move back to the upside on the day after pulling back sharply over the past few sessions. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the NYSE Arca Airline Index surged up by 2.7 percent.

SkyWest (SKYW) posted a standout gain within the airline sector after reporting better than expected first quarter earnings after the close of trading on Thursday.

Railroad, chemical, housing, and computer hardware housing stocks also saw notable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages saw continued strength going into the close, ending the session at or near their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 183.54 points or 1 percent to 18,024.06, the Nasdaq soared 63.97 points or 1.3 percent to 5,005.39 and the S&P 500 surged up 22.78 points or 1.1 percent to 2,108.29.

Despite the strength on the day, the major averages moved lower for the week. The Nasdaq tumbled by 1.7 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 fell by 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.