U.S. stocks rally on tame inflation and cheaper oil
Enviado: 18/5/2005 22:30U.S. stocks rally on tame inflation and cheaper oil
18/05/2005 22:04
(Updates to close)
NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks soared on Wednesday, with the blue-chip Dow average at a five-week high, as tame core inflation figures and oil prices at a three-month low helped soothe concerns about higher interest rates ahead.
The core consumer price index -- excluding fuel and food -- was unchanged in April, rather than rising 0.2 percent as forecast. That was seen as a sign the Federal Reserve may not need to accelerate its pace of quarter-percentage-point rate hikes.
Tough talk at midday from the U.S. Treasury secretary about China's currency, the yuan, boosted a market already rallying on oil's slide below $48 a barrel and the tepid core CPI data.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 132.57 points, or 1.28 percent, at 10,464.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 11.76 points, or 1.00 percent, to settle at 1,185.56.
International Business Machines Corp. rose 2.8 percent to $76.36, helping propel the Dow and the S&P 500 to their highest closes since April 13.
"Inflation looks like it's in check and oil prices are not higher -- and things with China are looking as though they may be able to move forward," said Jim Fehrenbach, head of Nasdaq trading at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis, who added that this combination was "making people more comfortable owning stocks and maybe even adding to positions."
The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 26.50 points, or 1.32 percent, to close at 2,030.65, its highest finish since March 15.
"The benign inflation number and the drop in oil was enough, considering the two-day rally we saw Monday and Tuesday," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.
The Dow and the S&P 500 both ended higher for the third day in a row, and the Nasdaq settled higher for the fourth successive session.
Among the Dow's biggest percentage gainers was Hewlett-Packard Co. , up 4.6 percent, or $1, at $22.55 a day after it posted higher profit and revenue, cut its payroll and signaled further job cuts.
Microsoft Corp. jumped almost 1 percent, or 24 cents, to $25.70 and Intel Corp. rose nearly 1 percent, or 23 cents, to $25.93, helping the Nasdaq to its highest finish in over two months, after an upgrade of the tech sector by Merrill Lynch.
The blue-chip Dow average was already up 1 percent when Treasury Secretary John Snow said just after noon that China must move soon to loosen the peg on its currency, the yuan, or be labeled a manipulator by Washington.
A decision by China to let its currency appreciate against the dollar could help narrow the huge U.S. trade deficit.
Snow's remarks helped push the Dow up to its session high at 10,480.85. The Treasury secretary's statements on China's yuan followed similar comments he made on Tuesday that touched off a late-day rally in the stock market.
Major banks' shares got a lift from the favorable inflation news because a climate of less aggressive rate increases makes it easier for them to make money. JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 2.4 percent, or 84 cents, to $36.05, and Citigroup climbed 1.2 percent, or 58 cents, to $47.74. Both are Dow components.
U.S. crude oil futures slumped more than a dollar to a 13-week low on Wednesday after government data showed domestic commercial crude stocks rose last week to their highest level in nearly six years.
Crude for June delivery fell $1.72, or 3.5 percent, to settle at $47.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had dropped to an intraday low of $47.16, the lowest since Feb. 16, when U.S. oil futures hit $46.95.
Among declining stocks, Exxon Mobil Corp. slipped 0.4 percent, or 21 cents, to $53.65.
Trading in stocks was active, with about 1.78 billion shares chang
18/05/2005 22:04
(Updates to close)
NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks soared on Wednesday, with the blue-chip Dow average at a five-week high, as tame core inflation figures and oil prices at a three-month low helped soothe concerns about higher interest rates ahead.
The core consumer price index -- excluding fuel and food -- was unchanged in April, rather than rising 0.2 percent as forecast. That was seen as a sign the Federal Reserve may not need to accelerate its pace of quarter-percentage-point rate hikes.
Tough talk at midday from the U.S. Treasury secretary about China's currency, the yuan, boosted a market already rallying on oil's slide below $48 a barrel and the tepid core CPI data.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 132.57 points, or 1.28 percent, at 10,464.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 11.76 points, or 1.00 percent, to settle at 1,185.56.
International Business Machines Corp. rose 2.8 percent to $76.36, helping propel the Dow and the S&P 500 to their highest closes since April 13.
"Inflation looks like it's in check and oil prices are not higher -- and things with China are looking as though they may be able to move forward," said Jim Fehrenbach, head of Nasdaq trading at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis, who added that this combination was "making people more comfortable owning stocks and maybe even adding to positions."
The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 26.50 points, or 1.32 percent, to close at 2,030.65, its highest finish since March 15.
"The benign inflation number and the drop in oil was enough, considering the two-day rally we saw Monday and Tuesday," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.
The Dow and the S&P 500 both ended higher for the third day in a row, and the Nasdaq settled higher for the fourth successive session.
Among the Dow's biggest percentage gainers was Hewlett-Packard Co. , up 4.6 percent, or $1, at $22.55 a day after it posted higher profit and revenue, cut its payroll and signaled further job cuts.
Microsoft Corp. jumped almost 1 percent, or 24 cents, to $25.70 and Intel Corp. rose nearly 1 percent, or 23 cents, to $25.93, helping the Nasdaq to its highest finish in over two months, after an upgrade of the tech sector by Merrill Lynch.
The blue-chip Dow average was already up 1 percent when Treasury Secretary John Snow said just after noon that China must move soon to loosen the peg on its currency, the yuan, or be labeled a manipulator by Washington.
A decision by China to let its currency appreciate against the dollar could help narrow the huge U.S. trade deficit.
Snow's remarks helped push the Dow up to its session high at 10,480.85. The Treasury secretary's statements on China's yuan followed similar comments he made on Tuesday that touched off a late-day rally in the stock market.
Major banks' shares got a lift from the favorable inflation news because a climate of less aggressive rate increases makes it easier for them to make money. JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 2.4 percent, or 84 cents, to $36.05, and Citigroup climbed 1.2 percent, or 58 cents, to $47.74. Both are Dow components.
U.S. crude oil futures slumped more than a dollar to a 13-week low on Wednesday after government data showed domestic commercial crude stocks rose last week to their highest level in nearly six years.
Crude for June delivery fell $1.72, or 3.5 percent, to settle at $47.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had dropped to an intraday low of $47.16, the lowest since Feb. 16, when U.S. oil futures hit $46.95.
Among declining stocks, Exxon Mobil Corp. slipped 0.4 percent, or 21 cents, to $53.65.
Trading in stocks was active, with about 1.78 billion shares chang