Major Averages Close Firmly Positive But Off Their Best Levels

(RTTNews) - After trending higher over the past several sessions, stocks saw some further upside during trading on Tuesday. A positive reaction to the latest corporate news contributed to the continued buying interest, lifting the Dow and the S&P 500 back near their record highs.

Biotechnology stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, resulting in a 3 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. With the gain, the index climbed further off last week's three-month closing low.

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) helped to lead the biotech sector higher, surging up by 11 percent, while InterMune (ITMN), Pharmacyclics (PCYC), and Illumina (ILMN) also posted strong gains.

Significant strength also emerged among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. The index continued its recovery from the five-year month closing low set earlier this month.

With Allergan helping to lead the way higher, considerable strength was also visible in the pharmaceutical sector. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index rose by 1.5 percent to its best closing level in well over a month.

Gold, electronic storage and networking stocks also saw notable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels of the day going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow climbed 65.12 points or 0.4 percent to 16,514.37, while the Nasdaq jumped 39.91 points or 1 percent to 4,161.46 and the S&P 500 rose 7.66 points or 0.4 percent to 1,879.55.