Stock Market Watch

Stocks End Higher on Last Trading Day of a Volatile Week

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Stocks rose sharply in trading today as worries about the euro zone debt crisis eased a little after Italian Senate approved budget measures.

All three major indexes ended near their session highs on the last trading day of what has been an extremely volatile week. Last week, a potential Greek default had scared investors. Over the weekend, Greek Prime Minister agreed to step down and form a unity government. This was expected to bring some stability to markets this week.


However, there was no respite for investors as the focus shifted away from Greece to Italy, the third largest euro zone economy. The volatility in global markets rose as worries about Italy’s debt problems mounted. On Wednesday, Italian bond yields soared past 7%, raising concerns about the country’s ability to deal with its debt problems. Yields rose even as Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi agreed to step down and form a new government. Reports that the European Central Bank stepped in to buy Italian bonds brought some calm to the markets on Thursday.

Concerns about Italy were further eased today after the country’s Senate passed budget reforms today. The Dow Jones ended the day 2.19% higher at 12,153.68, the S&P 500 ended the day 1.95% higher at 1,263.85, and the Nasdaq ended the day 2.04% higher at 2,678.75. European markets also rose sharply today, with the FTSE 100 Index in London closing 1.85% higher.

All sectors in the S&P 500 ended the day sharply higher. The gains were led by Industrials, which ended the day 2.50% higher. Energy and Basic Materials stocks also rose sharply, ending the day 2.12% and 1.88% higher, respectively.

Among the major gainers in trading today were Netlist Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST), which ended the day 16.36% higher at $1.92, Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), which ended the day 5.95% higher at $36.70, and Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS), which ended the day 4.37% higher at $15.77.

 

edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.


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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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