US stocks had fallen in the previous two sessions on worries about the auto and bank sectors US stocks climbed on Tuesday, ending March on a very upbeat note with the key stock benchmarks posting their best monthly gains in more than six years and one of the top 20 months since 1950. Tuesday's rally gav
e the Dow Jones Industrial Average its first monthly gains after six straight months of declines. But all three major indices declined in the January-March quarter.
The Dow rose 87 points, or 1.2%, to 7,608.92. The S&P 500 index gained 10 points, or 1.3%, at 797.87. The Nasdaq Composite index advanced 27 points, or 1.8%, to 1,528.59.All the three major indices had posted bigger gains through the late afternoon, but the advance lost some steam near the close.US stocks had fallen in the previous two sessions on worries about the auto and bank sectors. Prior to that, stocks had gained more than 20%, with the Dow and S&P 500 bouncing off 12-year lows hit early in March. Those gains were sparked by optimism that the economy is closer to stabilizing.Up until the last few minutes of trade, the Dow had been on track to see its best March since 1928.
But some late selling left the blue-chip indicator with a monthly gain of just 7.7% - the best since March 2002.The S&P 500 gained 8.5% in March, its best since March 2000. The Nasdaq is up 10.9%, its best March ever, going back to its inception in 1971.Year-to-date, the Dow is down 13.3%, making the first quarter its worst since 1939. For the quarter and year-to-date, the S&P 500 is down 11.7% and the Nasdaq is off 3%.Stock gains were broad-based, with 23 of 30 Dow stocks rising. Dow gainers included IBM, Chevron, McDonald's, 3M, Microsoft and Alcoa.
The Dow's financial components jumped too, continuing the recovery off multi-year lows. Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase all gained.
General Motors (GM) shares slumped 28%. On Monday, the Obama administration rejected turnaround plans from GM and Chrysler, saying that a bigger overhaul is needed if they want more taxpayer money. As part of the revamp, GM chief executive Rick Wagoner was asked to step down. Late on Monday, Obama appointed an auto czar to focus on the industry's woes.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price index fell a record 19% in January from a year earlier, after falling a record 18.6% in December. The index is a measure of 20 major metropolitan areas.
The March consumer confidence index from the Conference Board rose to 26 from 25.3, missing forecasts for a rise to 28.The Chicago PMI slipped to 31.4 in March from 34.2 in February, missing forecasts for a slight improvement to 34.3.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.68% from 2.71% on Monday.Lending rates were mostly higher. The 3-month Libor rate dipped to 1.19% from 1.21% on Monday. The overnight Libor rate rose to 0.51% from 0.29% Monday. Libor is a bank-to-bank lending rate.In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and gained against the yen.US light crude oil for May delivery settled up US$1.25 to US$49.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.COMEX gold for June delivery rose US$7.30 to settle at US$925 an ounce.Wednesday morning brings reports on employment, manufacturing, housing, construction spending and oil inventories. March sales from the nation's automakers are due throughout the day.The February pending home sales index is expected to show no change after having fallen 7.7% in the previous month.
Private-sector employers are expected to have cut 663,000 from their payrolls in March after cutting 697,000 jobs in February. The report from payroll services firm ADP is closely watched ahead of Friday's monthly employment report.European shares staged a bit of a rebound on the last day of the quarter thanks largely to a pull-back in banks. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index rose 3.5% to 176.39, paring losses for the first quarter of the year to just over11%.
The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 4.3% to 3,926.14, while Germany's DAX 30 index climbed 2.4% to 4,084.76 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 3.2% to 2,807.34.
e the Dow Jones Industrial Average its first monthly gains after six straight months of declines. But all three major indices declined in the January-March quarter.The Dow rose 87 points, or 1.2%, to 7,608.92. The S&P 500 index gained 10 points, or 1.3%, at 797.87. The Nasdaq Composite index advanced 27 points, or 1.8%, to 1,528.59.All the three major indices had posted bigger gains through the late afternoon, but the advance lost some steam near the close.US stocks had fallen in the previous two sessions on worries about the auto and bank sectors. Prior to that, stocks had gained more than 20%, with the Dow and S&P 500 bouncing off 12-year lows hit early in March. Those gains were sparked by optimism that the economy is closer to stabilizing.Up until the last few minutes of trade, the Dow had been on track to see its best March since 1928.
But some late selling left the blue-chip indicator with a monthly gain of just 7.7% - the best since March 2002.The S&P 500 gained 8.5% in March, its best since March 2000. The Nasdaq is up 10.9%, its best March ever, going back to its inception in 1971.Year-to-date, the Dow is down 13.3%, making the first quarter its worst since 1939. For the quarter and year-to-date, the S&P 500 is down 11.7% and the Nasdaq is off 3%.Stock gains were broad-based, with 23 of 30 Dow stocks rising. Dow gainers included IBM, Chevron, McDonald's, 3M, Microsoft and Alcoa.
The Dow's financial components jumped too, continuing the recovery off multi-year lows. Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase all gained.
General Motors (GM) shares slumped 28%. On Monday, the Obama administration rejected turnaround plans from GM and Chrysler, saying that a bigger overhaul is needed if they want more taxpayer money. As part of the revamp, GM chief executive Rick Wagoner was asked to step down. Late on Monday, Obama appointed an auto czar to focus on the industry's woes.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price index fell a record 19% in January from a year earlier, after falling a record 18.6% in December. The index is a measure of 20 major metropolitan areas.
The March consumer confidence index from the Conference Board rose to 26 from 25.3, missing forecasts for a rise to 28.The Chicago PMI slipped to 31.4 in March from 34.2 in February, missing forecasts for a slight improvement to 34.3.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.68% from 2.71% on Monday.Lending rates were mostly higher. The 3-month Libor rate dipped to 1.19% from 1.21% on Monday. The overnight Libor rate rose to 0.51% from 0.29% Monday. Libor is a bank-to-bank lending rate.In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and gained against the yen.US light crude oil for May delivery settled up US$1.25 to US$49.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.COMEX gold for June delivery rose US$7.30 to settle at US$925 an ounce.Wednesday morning brings reports on employment, manufacturing, housing, construction spending and oil inventories. March sales from the nation's automakers are due throughout the day.The February pending home sales index is expected to show no change after having fallen 7.7% in the previous month.
Private-sector employers are expected to have cut 663,000 from their payrolls in March after cutting 697,000 jobs in February. The report from payroll services firm ADP is closely watched ahead of Friday's monthly employment report.European shares staged a bit of a rebound on the last day of the quarter thanks largely to a pull-back in banks. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index rose 3.5% to 176.39, paring losses for the first quarter of the year to just over11%.
Source :/www.indiainfoline.com/news/innernews.asp?storyId=97768&lmn=1
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