Tags: Beige Book | Dollar | oil | Wall Street
Written by Reuters
Thursday, 10 September 2009 06:43
NEW YORK: US stocks closed higher for a fourth straight day on Wednesday, Sept 9 sending the Standard & Poor's 500 index to its best finish so far this year as industrial and TECHNOLOGY [] companies gained from a weak dollar, according to Reuters.
The dollar's fall to a 2009 low helped to make U.S. products more competitive in overseas markets. Industrials, such as earth-moving equipment maker Caterpillar Inc, rose 3.07 percent to US$48.41.
Tech stocks were among the big gainers, with Google Inc up 1.2 percent at US$463.97.
But Nasdaq's advance was limited by Apple Inc, which fell 1 percent to US$171.14. Chief Executive Steve Jobs appeared at a company event after recovering from a liver transplant, and some analysts remarked on how thin the 54-year-old chief executive looked.
The weak dollar seems to be the "new catalyst" in the market, said Chad Morganlander, portfolio manager at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co in New Jersey.
"(Market) participants are putting more risk on the table and bidding up the stock market," Morganlander said, suggesting that more investors are shifting their money to riskier assets like stocks as the greenback loses ground.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 49.88 points, or 0.53 percent, at 9,547.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 7.98 points, or 0.78 percent, at 1,033.37. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 22.62 points, or 1.11 percent, at 2,060.39.
Wednesday's close for the S&P index was the highest since October 6 when it ended at 1,056.89.
The dollar's fall pushed oil up, allowing U.S. crude to settle at US$71.31 a barrel and helping gold to trade near US$1,000 an ounce.
Dow's top boost was Boeing, which rose 2.1 percent to US$50.53 after a senior executive said the planemaker expects global air cargo traffic to return to growth next year.
Goldman Sachs upgraded Illinois Tool Works to "conviction buy" and lifted its price target on Dow components General Electric, United Technologies and 3M Co.
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey showed half of Federal Reserve districts saw evidence the U.S. economy had improved by the end of August, but labor markets remained weak and retail sales were flat overall. - Reuters
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- Nuang
- Ibrahim bin Ramli@Nuang started his career with CIMB Wealth Advisors Berhad as Agency Manager in April, 2008.Previously he was an Internal Auditors and Accounts Executive with Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd since 17 August, 1994. His background:- 1.Certified of Achievement for Master Sales Leadership from Dr Lawrence Walter Ng of President of The Art Of Learning and International Of Learning Without Learning 2.Certified for eXtra Ordinary Performance of Lawrence Walter Award Certificate for One Million Ringgit Club 2007 3. Certified Life & General insurances 4. Conferred with Diploma in Business Studiess & Bachelor of Business Admin(Hons)Finance from UiTM, Terengganu Branch & Shah Alam respectively;
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