Major Averages Recover From Initial Sell-Off To Close Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - After falling sharply at the open, stocks staged a remarkable turnaround over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages bounced well off their lows for the session and into positive territory, with the Dow showing a nearly 460-point swing on the day.

Most of the major sectors turned higher over the course of the trading day, with gold stocks showing a particularly strong move to the upside. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index shot up by 8.3 percent.

The rally by gold stocks came amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, as gold for December delivery jumped $22.90 to $1,136.60 an ounce.

Energy stocks also moved sharply higher as the day progressed, benefiting from an increase by the price of crude oil. Crude for November delivery ended the day up $0.80 at $45.54 a barrel.

Steel, biotechnology, electronic storage, and telecom also ended the session notably higher, while some weakness remained visible among financial stocks.

Going into the close, the major averages saw further upside, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 200.36 points or 1.2 percent to 16,472.37, the Nasdaq soared 80.69 points or 1.7 percent to 4,707.78 and the S&P 500 surged up 27.54 points or 1.4 percent to 1,951.36.

With the turnaround on the day, the major averages all moved higher for the week. The Nasdaq rose by 0.5 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both advanced by 1 percent.