Daily Highlights
Rodrigo Campos, Reuters
Wall Street rises as concern eases over Fed tapering
(Reuters) – Stocks rose on Wednesday, giving up some gains after an initial rally, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank needed to see further signs of traction in the economy before it tapered its economic stimulus efforts.
The S&P 500 hit yet another record high after Bernanke’s prepared speech to Congress offered no sign that he was ready to retreat from the Fed’s latest round of bond buying, which cooled investor speculation that the central bank was preparing to reduce its monetary stimulus.
Rodrigo Campos, Reuters
Wall Street drifts near record, Home Depot buoys Dow
(Reuters) – Stocks were little changed in early trading on Tuesday with Home Depot at a record high and buoying the blue-chips while investors eyed congressional testimony from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday.
The housing market recovery helped Home Depot report higher quarterly sales and earnings, prompting the world’s largest home improvement chain to boost its sales outlook for the year. Its shares rose 2.3 percent to $78.53 after hitting a record of $79.40.
Rodrigo Campos, Reuters
Global stocks slip off multi-year highs, U.S. dollar up
(Reuters) – A measure of stocks around the world dipped after setting a fresh 5-year high on Thursday and the U.S. dollar strengthened in the wake of better-than-expected job market data.
Investors took profits in major global equity markets, but relatively upbeat economic data and ongoing support from central banks kept equities near multi-year highs.
Herbert Lash, Reuters
China, German data push shares to five-year highs
(Reuters) – Global equity markets and the euro rose on Wednesday as strong Chinese trade data and signs that Germany may escape a sharp slowdown pushed shares to five-year highs worldwide, even as cracks appeared in this year’s heady bull run.
Stocks on Wall Street opened lower, then mostly pushed into the black, as did crude oil, with North Sea Brent and the U.S. benchmark straddling break-even as concerns persisted about global demand.
Rodrigo Campos, Reuters
Global stocks hold near records, euro slips
(Reuters) – The U.S. dollar rose against the yen and euro on Monday and U.S. stocks hovered near last week’s record highs as a brighter outlook for the U.S. economy kept the risk trade alive.
The euro extended its losses against the dollar to hit a session low in mid-morning trade after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank, which cut interest rates last week, is watching economic data and is ready to act again.
Caroline Valetkevitch, Reuters
World stock markets, dollar dip ahead of Fed; U.S. jobs data weak
(Reuters) – World stock markets edged lower while the dollar slipped to a two-month low on Wednesday after weaker-than-expected U.S. private-sector job growth added to concerns about slow U.S. growth.
The data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will maintain its stimulative monetary policy, which weighed on the dollar. The Fed, which is holding a two-day policy meeting, announces its decision at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT)
