Major Averages Reach Their Best Levels In Almost A Month

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved notably higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after initially showing a lack of direction. The gains on the day extended the rally seen in the previous session, with the major averages reaching their best levels in almost a month.

Most of the major sectors moved to the upside on the day, although gold stocks posted particularly strong gains. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index soared 6.5 percent after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in over a month.

The rally by gold stocks came amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery climbing $16.40 to $1,119 an ounce.

Significant strength was also visible among energy stocks, which moved higher along with the price of crude oil. Crude for October delivery surged up $2.56 to $47.15 a barrel.

The sharp jump by the price of oil came after a government report showed that crude oil inventories fell by 2.1 million barrels in the week ended September 11th.

Steel, railroad, computer hardware, and chemical stocks also saw considerable strength amid the broad based strength that emerged on Wall Street.

The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory, just off their highs for the session. The Dow climbed 140.10 points or 0.8 percent to 16,739.95, the Nasdaq rose 28.72 points or 0.6 percent to 4,889.24 and the S&P 500 advanced 17.22 points or 0.9 percent to 1,995.31.