Stocks Finish Higher Ahead of Fed Announcement
Stocks posted modest gains in trading today as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Thursday.
The Dow Jones ended the day 0.07% higher at 13,333.35, the S&P 500 ended the day 0.21% higher at 1,436.56, and the Nasdaq ended the day 0.32% higher at 3,114.31.
Consumer Cyclical sector led the gains in the S&P 500 in trading today, ending the day 1.02% higher. Industrials also rose sharply today, ending the day 0.77% higher. Utilities were the worst performers in the S&P 500 today, ending the day 0.73% lower.
Stocks gained in early trading today as investors cheered German Constitutional Court’s ruling on the permanent euro zone bailout fund. However, the initial enthusiasm over the favorable ruling faded as investors focused on Fed’s monetary policy announcement. Investors are hoping that the central bank will announce further easing measures on Thursday to spur economic growth.
On the economic front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed that wholesale inventories rose in the month of July. Meanwhile, a report from the Labor Department showed that imported prices rose in the month of August.
On the corporate front, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) today unveiled its much anticipated iPhone 5. The latest version of the iPhone is 20% lighter than the previous version and has a four-inch display. Apple shares ended the day 1.38% higher at $669.72.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) shares rose sharply today, posting their biggest intra-day gain since the May 2012 IPO, after comments from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. FB shares ended the day 7.62% higher at $20.91.
Other major gainers and losers in trading today were Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), which ended the day 10.04% higher at $3.07, Halcon Resources Corp. (NYSE: HK), which ended the day 11.35% lower at $7.58, and Dole Food Company Inc. (NYSE: DOLE), which ended the day 9.49% higher at $14.07.
European markets ended mostly higher today, with the EURO STOXX 50 Index closing 0.28% higher. Asian markets also gained overnight, with the Nikkei 225 Index in Japan closing 1.73% higher, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closing 1.10% higher.
More Posts by this author
- Stocks Rally as Fed Launches QE3
- Gold Prices Jump as Fed Announces QE3; Silver Prices also Surge
- Stocks Headed for a Strong Finish as Investors Cheer Fed’s Decision to Launch QE3
- Stocks Rally as Fed Announces QE3
- Rare Element – REE – Announces Year End and Fourth Quarter Financial Results
- inContact – SAAS – Public offering of 7 million shares
- Pier 1 Imports – PIR – Raises Financial Guidance for Fiscal 2013
 |
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.
|
