Dow Jones Climbs To Highest Level Since October 2008 (BLK, AA, MEE, F, HIG)

Bloomberg reports that the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to its highest level since October 2008 on Wednesday. The Index gained, led by Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), which closed 4.78% higher at $14.46, with concerns that an economic recovery would stoke inflation eased.

The Dow was up for the seventh consecutive day and 0.5% higher at 10,733.66. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index was up by 0.6% to 1,166.21. James Paulsen, Chief Investment Strategist at Wells Capital Management, said, “There’s nothing here to stop the stock rally.” Paulson added, “The inflation report was encouraging. That comes on the heels of the Fed’s statement yesterday that we don’t have to tighten because inflation is not an issue.”

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said that it will leave interest rates low for an extended period to aid an economic recovery. This gave a further boost to stocks. Walter Harecker, a Vienna-based fund manager, said,” Some of the macroeconomic data has been improving over the last month. The FOMC said that there will be more good times for risky assets. This helps equity markets. Just a little bit of inflation is fine. All of this fits into a brighter picture. At the moment, things look better.”

Among the major gainers on Wednesday were, BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), which closed 4.92% higher at $222.80, Massey Energy Company (NYSE: MEE), which closed 5.83% higher at $53.15, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), which closed 4.52% higher at $14.10, and Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG), which gained 4.84% to close at $28.58.