Trib 30 reaches all-time high

The stocks of Pittsburgh-area companies rallied in February, mirroring gains in the broader markets and sending the Trib 30 index to a new high.

The Trib 30 closed Friday at 457.7, up 6.4 percent from last month.

Gainers outpaced decliners by a 5-to-1 margin, with only Alcoa, Dominion Resources, FirstEnergy, NiSource and U.S. Steel posting monthly losses. The gainers were led by Allegheny Technologies, which jumped 18 percent in February; MSA Safety, which increased by 15.8 percent; and Wabtec, which gained 13.7 percent.

Seven companies — American Eagle Outfitters, Ansys, Comcast, NiSource, PPG Industries, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Wabtec — logged 52-week highs during the month. None of the Trib 30 companies notched new 52-week lows.

Major stock indices also posted big gains in February, helped by comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's signaling that the central bank won't raise interest rates at its next meeting.

The S&P 500 reached fresh records four times, capping its best monthly performance since 2011 with a gain of 5.5 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 5.6 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite index rallied 7.1 percent, advancing at one point to within 1.2 percent of its 2000 record.

The Trib 30 is an equal-weighted index of stocks of companies headquartered or with a major presence in Western Pennsylvania. An investor who divided $100,000 equally among the 30 stocks on Dec. 31, 1999, had a portfolio worth $457,700 as of Friday.

Alex Nixon is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7928 or anixon@tribweb.com. Bloomberg News contributed to this report.