(RTTNews) - After moving modestly lower in early trading, stocks showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the trading day on Friday. The markets benefited from a positive reaction to the latest reports regarding the world's central banks.<\/p>\n
Housing stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the trading day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.3 percent. With the gain, the index reached a four-year closing high.<\/p>\n
M\/I Homes (MHO) and Standard Pacific (SPF) turned in two of the housing sector's best performances, advancing by 4.4 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n
Significant strength also emerged among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index. Verizon (VZ) and Sprint Nextel (S) posted notable gains on the day.<\/p>\n
Natural gas, computer hardware, and biotechnology stocks also saw considerable strength, moving to the upside along with most of the other major sectors.<\/p>\n
The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, ending the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow jumped 100.51 points or 0.8 percent at 13,157.97, the Nasdaq rose 16.39 points or 0.5 percent to 3,069.79 and the S&P 500 advanced 9.05 points or 0.7 percent to 1,411.13.<\/p>\n
Despite the gains on the day, the major averages all moved lower for the week. The Dow fell by 0.9 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 slid by 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n
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