Thursday, August 13, 2009

Stock Market Reports : Foreign stock Market Headline

Wednesday, the US stock markets rallied sharply on outlook from the Fed and an encouraging housing report. However, stocks fell from day’s highs in the final minutes of the trading, but stocks still ended higher. The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark short-term interest rates steady near zero as expected and said it would likely stay there for an extended period. The fed said it would extend to the end of October a program to buy longer-term government securities. In addition there was one more positive news in market, as existing home sales increased 3.8%. However, mortgage applications fell 3.5%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ended up by 120.16 points at 9,361.61, NASDAQ index inclined by 28.99 points to 1,998.72 and the S&P 500 (SPX) closed higher by 11.46 points at 1,005.81.

In economic news, the FOMC left its target range for the fed funds rate unchanged at 0.00% to 0.25% and will keep the interest rate at remarkably low levels for an extended period. The FOMC said that slow income growth will limit household spending, though members believed that economic activity is staging out. The FOMC also added that it expects the full amount of Treasury securities will be purchased by the end of October. Earlier to the FOMC decision, the speed of purchases had indicated that Fed would likely be done with its purchases in September.

Existing home sales increased 3.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million units in the second quarter as compared to 4.58 million units in the first quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

US light crude oil futures for September delivery ended at $70.16 per barrel up by 1% on the New York Mercantile Exchange despite news of a larger-than-expected 2.5 million barrel build for the latest weekly inventory tally, which shows weak demand. Oil prices ended higher on rising equities market.

Gold futures for the month of December delivery finished the session at $952.5 per ounce higher by 0.5% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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