Dow And S&P 500 Climb Firmly Into Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday. Buying interest has remained subdued, however, liming the upside for the markets.

Gold stocks have shown another substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 1.8 percent. The index reached a new three-month intraday high earlier in the session but has given back some ground since then.

A notable increase by the price of gold is contributing to the strength in the sector, with gold for April delivery climbing $16.90 to $1,317 an ounce.

Notable strength has also emerged among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) has helped to lead the sector higher after reporting better than expected fourth quarter earnings.

Oil, networking, and computer hardware stocks are also seeing some strength in mid-day trading, while biotechnology and brokerage stocks have moved to the downside on the day.

While the Dow and the S&P 500 have climbed firmly into positive territory, the tech-heavy Nasdaq remains in the red. The Nasdaq is down 5.66 points or 0.1 percent at 4,235.01, while the Dow is up 73.89 points or 0.5 percent at 16,101.48 and the S&P 500 is up 4.56 points or 0.3 percent at 1,834.39.