S&P Sets Record Closing High Amid Strength On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, adding to the gains posted in the previous session. With the upward move on the day, the S&P 500 reached a new record closing high.

Continuing to recover from their recent pullback, biotechnology stocks moved sharply higher on the day. The NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index surged up by 2.5 percent, bouncing further off the nearly two-month closing low set on Friday.

Pharmacyclics (PCYC) and Celgene (CELG) turned in two of the biotech sector's best performances, jumping by 7.2 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Airline stocks also turned in a strong performance, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 2.3 percent to a nearly twelve-year closing high. United Continental (UAL) led the sector higher after UBS raised its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.

Significant strength was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. Cisco (CSCO) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) posted standout gains.

Telecom, computer hardware, housing, and semiconductor stocks also saw considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages all closed firmly positive, although the Nasdaq posted a standout gain. While the Nasdaq surged up 69.05 points or 1.6 percent to 4,268.04, the Dow rose 74.95 points or 0.5 percent to 16,532.61 and the S&P 500 advanced 13.18 points or 0.7 percent to 1,885.52.