U.S. stocks surge to best yearly start since 1987; DOW up 0.78
Published Jan 18, 2012 04:55PM ET
At the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.78%, the S&P 500 surged 1.11% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced by 1.53%.
Stocks climbed as a report that confidence among U.S. homebuilders advanced to a 4 year high earlier, sparking optimism that the world's largest economy is on the upswing.
Bullish news that Greece expects to reach an agreement with its private creditors by the end of the week added to the positive equity sentiment.
Euro zone debt fears eased as the International Monetary Fund proposed to increase its lending capacity by as much as USD500 billion to protect the world's economies.
Paul Zemsky of ING Investment Management explained to Bloomberg, "The IMF thing is a double edged sword. On one hand it does manage the tail risks. On the other hand, you wonder: What do they know that I don’t know?"
Earnings season is in full swing with at least 48 companies scheduled to report this week. According to a consensus of 9000 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, S&P 500 earnings may increase 9% this year to a record of USD105 per share.
Goldman Sachs soared 6.79% on euro zone fears easing despite posting a 58% decline in 4th quarter profits.
Ebay gave back 0.62% despite the on line auction house beating analyst's estimates for the 4th quarter.
Starbucks added 0.69% hitting 52 week highs today.
News that Yahoo's co founder, Jerry Yang would be departing from the company sent shares surging 3.18%.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 gave back 0.25%, France's CAC 40 slipped 0.15%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.34%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 added 0.15%.
Investors are awaiting U.S. building reports and unemployment claims while the European Central Bank is to produce a report on the current account followed by its monthly bulletin.
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Written By: Investing.com
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