Major Averages Close Modestly Higher, Nasdaq Sets Record Closing High

(RTTNews) - Stocks once again shrugged off some early volatility to move mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. With the upward move on the day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session at a new record closing high.

Steel stocks showed a substantial move to the upside over the course of the trading day, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 4.5 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in nearly two months.

Reliance Steel (RS) helped to lead the sector higher, jumping by 9.1 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter results and providing upbeat guidance.

Considerable strength was also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 3.4 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The strength in the sector came as crude for June delivery surged up $1.58 to $57.74 a barrel.

Gold stocks also moved higher along with the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index advancing by 2.4 percent as gold for June delivery climbed $7.40 to $1,194.30 an ounce.

Biotechnology and networking also moved notably higher on the day, although significant weakness among housing and semiconductor stocks limited the upside for the markets.

Housing stocks moved lower on the disappointing new home sales data, while Texas Instruments (TXN) led the semiconductor sector lower after reporting weaker than expected first quarter results and providing disappointing guidance.

The major averages gave back ground going into the close but managed to remain in positive territory. While the Nasdaq rose 20.89 points or 0.4 percent to 5,056.06, the Dow inched up 20.42 points or 0.1 percent to 18,058.69 and the S&P 500 edged up 4.97 points or 0.2 percent to 2,112.93.