Stock Market Watch

Stocks Rise Sharply after Bernanke Comments

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Stocks have risen sharply in early trading today after the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that the central bank would continue with its monetary policy even though the labor market is improving.

The Fed Chairman said that while he is encouraged by the decline in unemployment rate, continued accommodative monetary policy will be needed to make further progress. Bernanke said that the drop in unemployment rate may reflect a reversal of the unusually large payoffs that occurred during late 2008 and over 2009.


All three major indexes have risen sharply following comments from the Fed Chairman. At last check, the Dow Jones was trading 0.75% higher at 13,178.47, the S&P 500 was trading 0.82% higher at 1,408.64, and the Nasdaq was trading 0.87% higher at 3,094.56.

All sectors in the S&P 500 are in green in early trading. Industrials are leading the gains in the S&P 500 in early trading today. At last check, Industrials were trading 1.31% higher. Consumer Cyclical stocks are also sharply higher in early trading today, up 0.91% currently. Basic Materials stocks are currently trading 0.81% higher, while Energy stocks are currently trading 0.88% higher. Financials are up 0.61% in early trading today.

Among the major gainers in early trading today are Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), which is currently trading 0.32% higher at $15.44, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), which is currently trading 0.29% higher at $597.75, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), which is currently trading 1.12% higher at $9.96, AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL), which is currently trading 0.76% higher at $18.63, and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX), which is currently trading 0.86% higher at $38.81.

European markets are mostly higher in intra-day trading, with the FTSE 100 Index in London currently up 0.73%, and the CAC 40 Index in Paris currently up 0.51%.

 

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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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