Major Averages Close At Their Best Levels Of The Day

(RTTNews) - With traders seemingly shrugging off any uncertainty ahead of tomorrow's monetary policy decision, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The gains on the day extended a recent upward trend, with the major averages reaching their best closing levels in a month.

Oil service stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside after seeing considerable weakness in the previous session. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index surged up by 3.4 percent, offsetting yesterday's 3.4 percent drop.

The rebound by oil service stocks came amid an increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for December delivery climbing $0.42 to $81.42 a barrel.

Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The gain extended a recent upward move by the index, which reached its best closing level in well over a month.

Within the airline sector, Spirit Airlines (SAVE) posted a standout gain after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings.

Networking stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 2.9 percent. Polycom (PLCM) and Juniper Networks (JNPR) helped lead the sector higher.

Natural gas, computer hardware, steel, and brokerage stocks also saw considerable strength amid a broad-based rally on Wall Street.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the day at their highs for the session. The Dow jumped 187.81 points or 1.1 percent to 17,005.75, the Nasdaq soared 78.36 points or 1.8 percent to 4,564.29 and the S&P 500 surged up 23.42 points or 1.2 percent to 1,985.05.