After showing a notable move to the downside in morning trading on Wednesday, stocks staged a significant recovery over the course of the afternoon. The volatility came as traders kept a close eye on developments in Europe.
Gold stocks showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the trading day after coming under pressure in early trading. After falling by as much as 3.1 percent, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 4.1 percent.
While gold for June delivery fell $28.20 to $1,548.40 an ounce, the price of the precious metal moved back to the upside in after-hours trading.
Significant strength also emerged among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Oil service, transportation, and retail stocks also turned higher as the day progressed.
Meanwhile, computer hardware stocks saw continued weakness following the disappointing news from Dell. The NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index fell by 2.3 percent to a four-month closing low.
Considerable weakness also remained visible among pharmaceutical stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index. The loss extended a recent downward move by the index, which fell to its worst closing level in five months.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed, with the Dow stuck just below the unchanged line. While the Dow edged down 6.66 points or 0.1 percent to 12,496.15, the Nasdaq rose 11.04 points or 0.4 percent to 2,850.12 and the S&P 500 crept up 2.23 points or 0.2 percent to 1,318.86.
by RTT Staff Writer
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