Major Averages Finish Choppy Trading Day In Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - Following the lackluster performance seen in the previous session, stocks continued to experience choppy trading on Thursday but once again managed to end the day mostly higher.

The positive close by the broader markets was partly due to considerable strength that emerged in the energy sector, which benefited from a modest rebound by the price of crude oil.

After tumbling $3.56 to $50.42 a barrel on Wednesday, crude for May delivery climbed by $0.37 to end the day at $50.79 a barrel.

Within the energy sector, oil service stocks posted particularly strong gains, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 3.2 percent. The gain lifted the index to its best closing level in almost two months.

Tidewater (TDW), Cameron (CAM), and Halliburton (HAL) turned in some of the oil service sector's best performances on the day.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index also climbed by 1.9 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Telecom, railroad, and semiconductor stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while considerable weakness was visible among commercial real estate stocks.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, near their best levels of the day. The Dow rose 56.22 points or 0.3 percent to 17,958.73, the Nasdaq climbed 23.74 points or 0.5 percent to 4,974.56 and the S&P 500 advanced 9.28 points or 0.5 percent to 2,091.18.