WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday. The gains on the day lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs, while the Nasdaq reached its best levels since 2000.
Gold stocks turned in some of the market's best performances, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.1 percent. The strength in the sector came as gold for February delivery jumped $21.80 to $1,195.30 an ounce.
Significant strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Exact Sciences (EXAS), BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN) and Celgene (CELG) posted notable gains.
Utilities, airline, and telecom stocks also saw considerable strength, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves to the upside.
Nonetheless, trading activity was relatively subdued, as many traders remained away from their desks following the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday.
The major averages gave back ground going into the close but managed to remain in positive territory. The Dow inched up 23.50 points or 0.1 percent to 18,053.71, the Nasdaq advanced 33.39 points or 0.7 percent to 4,806.86 and the S&P 500 rose 6.89 points or 0.3 percent to 2,088.77.
For the holiday-interrupted week, the Dow jumped by 1.4 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both climbed by 0.9 percent.
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