Stock Market Watch

Stocks Surge after Bernanke Comments

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Stocks surged in trading on Thursday, with the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 closing at record high levels, as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the central bank’s $85 billion a month bond purchase program lifted market sentiment.

The Dow Jones ended the day 1.11% higher at 15,460.92, the S&P 500 ended the day 1.36% higher at 1,675.02, and the Nasdaq ended the day 1.63% higher at 3,578.30.

All sectors in the S&P 500 rallied. Basic Materials sector led the gains in the S&P 500, ending the day 3.39% higher. Telecom sector rose 3.11%. Energy sector ended the day 1.82% higher. Financials rose 1.53%, while Technology sector rose 1.99%.

Among the major movers on Thursday included Bridgepoint Education Inc. (NYSE: BPI), which ended the day 26.25% higher at $15.92, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), which ended the day 11.81% higher at $4.45, and Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM), which ended the day 1.15% lower at $71.53.

On the economic front, a report released by the Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims rose 16,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 360,000. Economists were expecting jobless claims to come in at 340,000.

European markets also rallied on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 Index in London closing 0.59% higher, and the CAC 40 Index in Paris closing 0.74% higher. Asian markets also surged overnight, with the Nikkei 225 Index in Japan closing 0.39% higher, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closing 2.55% higher.

 








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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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