The major indices are closing higher after a late session surge take the Dow and S&P toward the highs and reverse declines in the NASDAQ index.

The major indices  snapped a two day decline. The Russell 2000 index was the biggest gainer today.

The final numbers are showing:

• Dow industrial average up 139.92 points or 0.40% at 34818.28
• S&P index up 15.45 points or 0.34% at 4545.87
• NASDAQ  index up 40.99 points or +0.29% at 14261.51
• Russell 2000 index rose 20.98 points or 1.01% at 2091.11

Looking at the major sectors in the S&P index, the gainers today included:

• real estate , +1.9%
• utilities +1.4%
• materials +1.1%

The major decliners today included:

• industrials, -0.8%
• technology -0.3%
• financials -0.2%

For the trading week, the Dow and S&P were little changed. The NASDAQ rose modestly:

• Dow industrial average, -0.07%
• S&P index +0.07%
• NASDAQ +0.63%