Stocks End Sharply Higher on ECB Move, Jobs Data
Stocks rallied in trading today, with all three major indexes finishing the day at session highs. Investors’ sentiment was lifted by European Central Bank’s (ECB) new bond buying program to contain the euro zone debt crisis and better than expected data from the U.S. labor market.
The Dow Jones ended the day 1.87% higher at 13,292, the S&P 500 ended the day 2.04% higher at 1,432.12, and the Nasdaq ended the day 2.17% higher at 3,135.81.
All the sectors in the S&P 500 ended the day sharply higher Conglomerates led the gains in the S&P 500 today, ending the day 2.62% higher.
Stocks rose after the ECB President, Mario Draghi announced measures to contain the euro zone debt crisis. Draghi unveiled a new bond buying program aimed at bringing down borrowing costs for troubled euro zone economies.
Stocks extended their gains following the release of better than expected U.S. labor market data. According to a report released by ADP, the private sector added 201,000 jobs in the month of August, well above economists’ forecasts of a gain of 145,000 private sector jobs. A report from the Labor Department, meanwhile, showed that initial jobless claims fell 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000 last week. Investors are now waiting for the all-important nonfarm payrolls data for the month of August, which will be released on Friday. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls to rise by 125,000 for August. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 8.3%.
On the corporate front, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares rose sharply after the online retailer unveiled a new Kindle Fire tablet. Amazon shares ended the day 2.10% higher at $251.38 after hitting an all-time high of $252.70.
Other major gainers in trading today were The Men’s Wearhouse Inc. (NYSE: MW), which ended the day 18.69% higher at $37.79, and Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV), which ended the day 17.44% higher at $23.97.
European markets also rallied in trading today as investors welcomed the ECB move. The FTSE 100 Index in London ended the day 2.11% higher, while the CAC 40 Index in Paris ended the day 3.06% higher. Asian markets ended mostly higher overnight, with the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closing 0.34% higher.
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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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