Major Averages Seeing Further Upside In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - With traders reacting positively to upbeat economic data, stocks have moved notably higher during trading on Friday. The gains on the day are extending Wednesday's rally, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record highs.

Computer hardware stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 1.7 percent. The gain extends a recent upward trend by the index, which has reached a new record high.

Seagate Technology (STX) and Lexmark (LXK) are turning in two of the hardware sector's best performances, jumping by 4 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

Significant strength has also emerged among networking stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. With the gain, the index has reached its best intraday level in over two years.

Housing stocks are also turning in a strong performance in mid-day trading, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.4 percent. The index is on pace to end the day at a six-month closing high.

Biotechnology, electronic storage, and utilities stocks are also seeing considerable strength, reflecting broad based buying interest.

The major averages have seen some further upside in recent trading, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow is up 91.32 points or 0.6 percent at 16,270.40, the Nasdaq is up 42.23 points or 1 percent at 4,100.37 and the S&P 500 is up 11.70 points or 0.7 percent at 1,821.30.