| Stocks Rally as Pending Home Sales Jump to 23-Month High |
| Apr-26-2012 |
| Keywords: secret service, probe, el salvadro, prostitutes, prostitution, scandal, san salvador |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average scores a triple digit gain as investors cheer a big jump in pending home sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 114 points, the S&P 500 rose 9 points, closing at 1399.99. The Nasdaq Composite following up yesterday's more than 2% rally with a 21 point gain.
Wal-Mart leading advancers on the Dow, finishing the session up 2.77%. That as investors took advantage of the company's recent selloff in the wake of bribery allegations at its Mexican subsidiary. AT&T and Chevron also contributing to the Dow's triple digit rally with better than 2% gains.
Investor enthusiasm getting a shot in the arm from better than expected news on pending home sales. Existing home sales in March jumped 4.1%, reaching the highest level in nearly two years. That news all but nullifying the impact of the Labor Department's disappointing report on weekly jobless claims. New claims for unemployment benefits fell to 388,000 last week from an upwardly revised 389,000 the week prior, the Labor Department reported. Economists were expecting a drop to 375,000 from an initially reported 386,000. The four-week moving average, which helps smooth out volatility, rose to 381,750 -- the highest level seen since January 7.
Easing concerns over Europe also helping to spur gains on Wall Street. Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager said that a budget proposal, supported by a majority of its parliament members, would reduce the country's budget deficit sufficiently to keep it in-line with a Eurozone fiscal pact. That report from Reuters helping to alleviate concerns among analysts that a disagreement over the budget might put the country in breach of the agreement and knock the currency bloc back to the drawing board on a key measures aimed to reducing sovereign debt across the board. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 12:00 PM Email to a friend |
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