| Bernanke's Speech Induces An End Of The Month Rally. |
| Aug-31-2012 |
| Keywords: stocks, rally, bernanke, central bank, action, easing |
Stocks on Wall Street capped the month of August with a Federal Reserve induced rally, driving all three major stock indexes higher on the month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 90 points, Nasdaq Composite climbed 18 points, the S&P 500 gained 7 points to close back above 1,400.
Those results secured monthly gains for all three indexes, both the Dow and S&P 500 higher now for a third straight month.
Today's gains ignited by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's much anticipated speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. During his speech Bernanke said the current economic conditions are "far from satisfactory." He called the slowly recovering labor market a "grave concern" and warned the Fed alone can't shore up the economy. He also defended the traditional and non-traditional tools the central bank has used in propping up the economy, but came short of suggesting what further actions will be taken.
Investors welcomed the Fed Chairman's comments, driving the Dow at one point up more than 120 points. The market also received welcomed news on consumer confidence, which in August improved to the highest level since May. Factory orders rebounded from a .5% percent drop in June. Orders during the month of July up a steeper than expected 2.8%.
Stock and commodity prices alike benefitted from weakness in the dollar, which fell to a more than three-month low following the Fed Chairman's speech.
Intel proved to be the big winner on the blue chip index. The chip maker gained more than 2%. The Dow also getting solid support from the shares of American Express and Microsoft, each up more than 1% on the day.
Facebook's stock sat out today's rally after BMO Capital and Bank of America both slashed their price targets on the social media company. The shares of Facebook closed the session down 5.6%, resting at a record low of $18.06 a share.
Weakness in the greenback helped spark two percent gains in the price for gold and crude oil. Gold prices ended the session at a five month high, topping $1,687 an ounce. Crude oil prices gained $1.85, settling at $96.47 a barrel. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 8:00 PM Email to a friend |
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