Sentiment on Wall Street once again is upbeat as U.S. troops get closer to Baghdad.
April 2, 2003: 10:16 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stock markets rallied sharply early Wednesday on the belief that the end of the war in Iraq is drawing nearer as U.S. troops got closer to Baghdad.
Shortly after 10:00 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average (up 177.22 to 8247.08, Charts), theNasdaq composite (up 40.34 to 1388.64, Charts) and the S&P 500 index (up 18.66 to 877.14, Charts) all scored gains of 2 percent or more.
A quick resolution to the war would allow Wall Street to shift its focus back to things like the U.S. economy and corporate profit growth, neither of which is in great shape, but both of which could benefit from peace in the world. Speculation in the market is that once the war is over, businesses and consumers will loosen their purse strings and spending, along with growth, will return to the currently crippled economy.
Such hopes and a bit of feel-good attitude after the overnight rescue of a U.S. prisoner of war from an Iraqi hospital fueled a strong buying spree in the early going. The foundation for the rally was laid Tuesday, when stocks ignored a surprisingly shoddy manufacturing report and headed higher. This reaction led some to believe that Wall Street may have found a comfort zone where it is able to absorb the bad news without losing too much ground in the process.
The reaction was similar Wednesday: the market didn't skip a single beat on its way higher even after the release of a report showing factory orders fell in February by more than twice what had been expected.
Only two of the 30 stocks comprising the industrial average were down, and not by much. Breadth in the broader market was positive with conviction. On the New York Stock Exchange, gainers beat out losers by 4 to 1 on volume of 215 million shares. On the Nasdaq, the advance/decline ratio was 7 to 3 on volume of 270 million shares.
The stock market's strength translated into weakness and rising yields for U.S. Treasury bonds. The 10-year note lost 23/32 of a point in price for a yield of 3.90 percent The dollar gained against both the euro and the yen.
Oil and gold retreated amid the hopes that the war won't last that long after all and as investors shifted money back into stocks. Brent crude futures were set back by 85 cents to $24.90 a barrel in London. Gold lost $5.50 to trade at $329.70 an ounce in New York.
Stocks in Asia rallied overnight and European markets strode higher in afternoon trading.
O Clubeinvest.com informa que nenhuma da informação
aqui facultada deverá ser entendida como conselho ou recomendação
de qualquer tipo de transacção ou investimento.
