After moving roughly sideways over the course of the past week, stocks have moved notably higher during trading on Thursday. The major averages have climbed firmly into positive territory, reaching new three-month highs.
Technology stocks have helped to lead the way higher amid a positive reaction to quarterly results from networking giant Cisco Systems (CSCO). Shares of Cisco have surged up by 8.8 percent after the company reported better than expected earnings and raised its quarterly dividend.
The markets have also benefited from remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said that Germany is committed to doing everything it can to maintain the euro.
"The European Central Bank, although it is of course independent, is completely in line with what we have said all along," Merkel added at a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Electronic storage stocks have shown a notable move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index up by 3.5 percent. With the gain, the index has reached its best intraday level in well over three months.
Significant strength has also emerged among gold stocks, which are moving higher along with the price of the precious metal. With gold for December delivery climbing $11.30 to $1,617.90 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index is up by 3.1 percent.
Networking stocks also continue to see considerable strength following the news from Cisco, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 3 percent. Housing, software, and oil service stocks are also posting notable gains.
The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, hovering near their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 71.07 points or 0.5 percent at 13,235.85, the Nasdaq is up 26.48 points or 0.9 percent at 3,057.41 and the S&P 500 is up 8.52 points or 0.6 percent at 1,414.05.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com