[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped to a new high Tuesday, trimming losses from the financial crisis after a four-year rally, fueled by monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve and alleged indications of an improving economy. Equities extended their gains after the Institute for Supply Management’s index for non-manufacturing activity rose to 56 percent from 55.2 …
Dow Heads Closer To Record High; Europe Retreats On China
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] US stocks ended higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising to its highest level since 2007, as speculation the Federal Reserve will continue expansionary policies offset concern over spending cuts and China’s economy. Markets were hit by headwinds from China earlier where authorities announced new-property buying restrictions Friday, ostensibly to prevent formation of asset bubbles. …
One Man’s Opinion: Will Sequestration Have A Negligible Effect On Global GDP?
The effect of sequester on US GDP is sizable but not huge, and we need to care about it, says Georg Grodzki, credit research head at Legal & General Investment Management in London. Even if the effect is 0.5 percent (on the downside), which is the consensus reading, it’s not an insignificant number. The good news is that the US economy has …
Indexes Retreat As Senate Rejects Sequestration Plan; Europe Rises On Draghi, Bernanke
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] US indexes did an about face and retreated in the final minutes of trading erasing earlier gains after a Senate vote kept $85 billion of automatic spending cuts in place starting at midnight, and data on growth and employment gave out mixed signals about the economy’s health. Gains in the US equity averages fizzled out after …
Stocks Rise On Housing Data And Bernanke Talk; European Markets Climb As Earnings Top Estimates
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] US stocks surged Wednesday in a late rally, sending the Dow Industrials to a five-year high as investors welcomed more upbeat housing data and the Federal Reserve chief’s dovish testimony for the second day, reiterating his commitment to monetary stimulus to bolster growth. In other words, the spiked punchbowl will not be watered down as was …
Equities Rebound On Economic Data, Fed Speak; Europe Slides On Italian Deadlock
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] US stocks advanced Tuesday, recouping more than half of Monday’s biggest decline in the benchmark indices since November as Bernanke defended the Fed’s policy amid solid housing and consumer confidence data. The jury is still out whether that was just a low volume dead cat bounce, or the beginning of something more. Economic activity in the …