NEW YORK?? Wall Street rallied strongly at Monday?s opening bell, as investors shook off fears that the economy could be headed into a second recession, which have pummeled the market?s major indexes for four weeks in a row.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up over 180 points in the early going and trading above the psychologically-important 11,000 level.
No major economic reports are due out Monday. Later in the week, traders will be sorting through a handful of figures on new home sales, durable goods orders and weekly claims for unemployment benefits for signs of a recession.
Many analysts are looking toward a speech by Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, at an annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyo. on Friday. Last year, Bernanke's speech at Jackson Hole set the stage for a $600 billion program to stimulate the economy through buying Treasury bonds. That effort ended in June. Some analysts believe the Fed may make another move to help the flagging economy in the coming months.
Brent crude prices fell to near $107 a barrel on Monday as Libyan rebels appeared closer to toppling Moammar Gadhafi's regime. Rebel forces pushed into the capital Tripoli on Sunday. Some analysts believe oil prices could drop as Libyan resumes exporting oil.
The benchmark U.S. oil contract was trading higher Monday morning. Brent crude has been unusually high compared with U.S. crude futures contract for months, partially because Europe relies more than the U.S. on oil from Africa, including Libyan imports.
Lowe's stock rose 2.4 percent. The home improvement retailer said it will buy back up to $5 billion stock over the next two to three years. Last week, Lowe's lowered its sales forecast for the second half of the year as shoppers grow more worried about the economy.
The S&P 500 index lost 4.7 percent last week. The sharpest drops came Thursday with news of weaker manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic states and an increase in the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.