Stock Market News for February 25, 2010 - Market News
It was a Bernanke-based rally on the Wall Street Wednesday. Comments from the Federal Reserve Chairman in his semi-annual testimony before Congress drew widespread applause from investors and helped stocks end a two-day losing streak.
The Fed chairman noted the economy still needed “accommodative monetary policies," and reassured policymakers that interest rates would be kept at a very low level for an extended period. Nevertheless, a bleak housing data and an otherwise dull tone taken by the Fed chairman kept the volume light. Banks and financial companies benefitted from Bernanke’s message, with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) leading the list of gainers on the Dow average.
This morning’s stock futures suggest stocks would open in the red after rating agencies said they may downgrade Greece’s sovereign debt rating. A weak jobless data has furthered pressured futures, with S&P 500 futures off 12.3 points, Dow Jones industrial average futures down 100 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures down 15.5 points.
On Wednesday, the Dow average, which fell 120 points over the first two sessions of the week, recovered almost 92 points to end at 10374.16 points. All but two of its components ended the session higher, with Alcoa (NYSE:AA), off 0.9% and Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT), off 0.3% leading on the downside. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 10.64 points, or 0.97%, to 1,105.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 22.46 points, or 1.01%, to 2,235.90. On the NYSE, advancing stocks outpaced those that declined in price by an eleven-to-four margin.
The congressional testimony also offered some hope regarding the commercial real estate market, which Bernanke noted was showing "a few rays of light." Meanwhile, St Louis Fed President Bullard said the timeframe for "extended period" could be six months. Strength in technology shares sent Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) up 1.5%.
All ten S&P500 industry sectors ended the day in the green, led by financials (+1.6%), consumer services (+1.2%) and technology (+1.0%), followed by industrials (+0.9%), health care (+0.7%), consumer goods as well as oil and gas (+0.6%), telecommunications (+0.5%), basic materials (+0.3%), and utilities (+0.1%).
The US dollar dropped 0.1% against a basket of currencies, sending the broad-based DJ-UBS commodities index up 0.8%. Crude prices advanced 1.3%, or $1.14 to $79.93 despite reports of a larger-than-expected buildup in weekly crude stockpiles.
A disappointing 11.2% plunge in January new home sales sent shares in homebuilding companies lower, with DR Horton (NYSE:DHI) off 1.8%, Pulte Homes (NYSE:PHM) down 1.5%, and Lennar (NYSE:LEN) off 0.1%. Home Depot (NYSE:HD), however, continued to gain on its better-than-expected earnings numbers and dividend hike. Share in the company rose 2.0%,
A number of companies are due to report their earnings, including Safeway (NYSE:SWY), Fluor (NYSE:FLR), Gap (NYSE:GPS), HJ Heinz (NYSE:HNZ), Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) and Barnes and Noble (NYSE:BKS). Other items of interest include speeches from Fed's Pianalto and Bullard, with Bernanke before a Senate panel.
The preceding article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.
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