Major Averages Close Moderately Higher But Off Best Levels

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply lower over the course of the previous session, stocks regained some ground during trading on Wednesday. The markets benefited from bargain hunting despite lingering concerns about developments regarding Syria.

Oil and oil service stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 1.8 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

The strength in the sectors came as the price of crude oil saw some further upside after jumping by more than $3 a barrel on Tuesday. Crude for October delivery climbed $1.09 to $110.10 a barrel.

While Syria is not a major oil producer, the price of crude has benefited from concerns that U.S. military action could impact the entire region.

Considerable strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The gain by the index came after it ended the previous session at a nearly four-month closing low.

Biotechnology stocks also saw significant strength on the day, while most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.

Meanwhile, gold stocks showed another substantial downturn on the day, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 2.9 percent after rising as much as 3 percent.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the close but still ended the day in positive territory. The Dow rose 48.38 points or 0.3 percent to 14,824.51, the Nasdaq climbed 14.83 points or 0.4 percent to 3,593.35 and the S&P 500 advanced 4.48 points or 0.3 percent to 1,634.96.