Major Averages Close Modestly Higher After Initial Drop

(RTTNews) - After moving modestly lower in early trading, stocks showed a notable rebound over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages climbed well off their early lows, eventually ending the day in positive territory.

Telecom stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the trading day, driving the NYSE Arca Telecom Index up by 1.6 percent. The gain extended a recent upward move by the index, which reached a five-year closing high.

Sprint (S) helped to lead the telecom sector higher, with the wireless and wireline communications services provider jumping by 4.6 percent.

Considerable strength also emerged among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Ryland Group (RYL) and Toll Brothers (TOL) turned in two of the sector's best performances.

Meanwhile, gold stocks came under pressure on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.4 percent. The sharp drop by gold stocks came even though the price of the precious metal ended the day nearly flat.

Trucking stocks also saw significant weakness, giving back some ground after ending the previous session sharply higher. The Dow Jones Trucking Index fell by 1.2 percent after jumping 3.8 percent to a record closing high on Thursday.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow edged up 30.34 points or 0.2 percent to 15,658.36, the Nasdaq climbed 13.84 points or 0.4 percent to 3,689.59 and the S&P 500 inched up 2.80 points or 0.2 percent to 1,709.67.

With the gains on the day, the major averages all moved higher for the week, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record highs. The Nasdaq surged up 2.1 percent for the week to a nearly thirteen-year closing high, while the Dow rose by 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 advanced by 1.1 percent.