Dow And S&P 500 Reach New Record Closing Highs

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, extending the upward trend seen over the past few weeks. With the gains on the day, the Dow and the S&P 500 both reached new record closing highs.

Semiconductor stocks showed a significant move to the upside over the course of the trading day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 1.5 percent. The gain lifted the index within striking distance of the six-year highs set last week.

Micron (MU) helped to lead the semiconductor sector higher, jumping by 4.7 percent, while Analog Devices (ADI) and Teradyne (TER) also posted strong gains.

Considerable strength also emerged among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Telecom Index. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in over a month.

Tobacco, networking, and internet stocks also saw notable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Meanwhile, gold stocks came under significant selling pressure, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.9 percent. The weakness in the sector came as gold for December delivery fell $6.70 to $1,345.50 an ounce.

The major averages moved to the upside going into the close, ending the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow jumped 111.42 points or 0.7 percent to 15,680.35, the Nasdaq rose 12.21 points or 0.3 percent to 3,952.34 and the S&P 500 climbed 9.84 points or 0.6 percent to 1,771.95.