Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Friday, extending the strong upward move seen late in the previous session. Much of the strength on Wall Street stemmed from a positive reaction to the latest developments in Europe.
While most of the major sectors showed strong moves to the upside, steel stocks posted particularly strong gains on the day amid optimism about the outlook for demand. Reflecting the strength in the steel sector, the NYSE Arca Steel Index surged up by 4.9 percent.
Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.7 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. EMC Corp. (EMC) and NetApp (NTAP) turned in two of the sector's best performances.
Semiconductor, networking and software stocks also posted substantial gains amid strength throughout the tech sector.
Housing, oil service, defense, and gold stocks also saw significant strength on the day, reflecting the broad based buying interest on Wall Street.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 277.83 points or 2.2 percent to 12,880.09, the Nasdaq soared 85.56 points or 3 percent to 2,935.05 and the S&P 500 surged up 33.12 points or 2.5 percent to 1,362.16.
With the strong gains on the day, the major averages all moved higher for the week. The Nasdaq rose by 1.5 percent, while Dow and the S&P 500 jumped 1.9 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
by RTT Staff Writer
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