NEW YORK : Wall Street shares on Tuesday cheered outperforming earnings reports from Apple and other major companies and corporate deals that eased worries about the health of the US economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 109.26 points (0.81 percent) to 13,676.23 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged 45.33 points (1.65 percent) to 2,799.26.
The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 13.26 points (0.88 percent) to finish at 1,519.59.
For the second straight day investors drove stocks higher, rebounding from a slump on Friday and shaking off a rout in Asian and European markets on Monday.
Analysts said investors were growing more optimistic that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates next week to counter economic softening stemming from the crisis in the risky sub-prime mortgage sector, where loans are given to home buyers with patchy credit histories.
In September the Fed slashed its base rate a half point to 4.75 percent, its first rate cut in four years, to ease the housing-related credit crunch.
"Next week's FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting October 30-31 takes on increased importance as the market anticipates a rate cut," said Al Goldman, a chief market strategist at AG Edwards.
<---------- Another rate cut? Is that good or bad?
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