S&P 500 Closes Above 1,700 For The First Time

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher in early trading, stocks continued to perform well throughout the session on Thursday. The strong gains on the day lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs, with the S&P 500 closing above 1,700 for the first time.

Trucking stocks posted particularly strong gains on the day, turning in some of the market's best performances. The Dow Jones Trucking Index surged up by 3.8 percent to a record closing high.

Con-way (CNW) helped to lead the trucking sector higher, jumping by 10.5 percent after reporting better than expected second quarter earnings.

Significant strength also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Affymetrix (AFFX), Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) and Incyte (INCY) posted standout gains.

Brokerage stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index rising by 2 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in almost five years.

Railroad, defense, natural gas, and banking, stocks also posted strong gains, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages held on to strong gains going to the close, finishing the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 128.48 points or 0.8 percent to 15,628.02, the Nasdaq soared 49.37 points or 1.4 percent to 3,675.74 and the S&P 500 surged up 21.14 points or 1.3 percent to 1,706.87.