Major Averages Close Sharply Higher, Dow Soars More Than 400 Points

(RTTNews) - Stocks showed a substantial upward move during trading on Thursday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. With the extended rally, the major averages further offset the sell-off that was seen in the preceding sessions.

Most of the major sectors showed strong moves to the upside on the day, reflecting the broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Gold stocks turned in some of the best performances once again, adding to the substantial gains posted in the previous session. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 5.3 percent, climbing further off the one-month closing low set on Tuesday.

The continued rally by gold stocks came even though the price of the precious metal closed nearly flat for the second consecutive session.

Significant strength was also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 4.5 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Software Index. Oracle (ORCL) helped lead the sector higher after reporting better than expected second quarter results.

Computer hardware stocks also turned in a particularly strong performance, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 3.7 percent. The gain lifted the index back toward the record closing high set earlier this month.

Biotechnology, networking, railroad, healthcare and airline stocks also moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow soared 421.28 points or 2.4 percent to 17,778.15, the Nasdaq jumped 104.08 points or 2.2 percent to 4,748.40 and the S&P 500 surged up 48.34 points or 2.4 percent to 2,061.23.