(MENAFN– ecpulse)
U.S. stocks ended sharply higher in the wake of upbeat economic data, in addition to comments from Federal Reserve officials that the central bank is unlikely to reduce its stimulus efforts before the U.S. economy is ready for it.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.77% or 114.35 points to 15024.49. The S&P 500 rose 0.62% or 9.95 points to 1613.21. The NASDAQ composite index gained 0.76% or 25.64 points to 3401.86.
Concerns about the longevity of central bank bond buying last week prompted the biggest stock selloff of the year last week and stoked a rapid rise in Treasury yields. But in recent days, comments from central bank officials in China, Europe and the U.S. helped assuage fears that the beginning of a gradual tightening in monetary policy was imminent.
On Thursday, New York Fed President William Dudley said that "a rise in short-term rates is very likely to be a long way off," even as it is possible that the central bank may slow the pace of its bond buying. He noted that violent moves in the financial markets after last week`s key Fed meeting were "out of sync" with statements and the expectations of policy-making participants.
Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said that the Fed will be keeping monetary policy very stimulative for years to come.
Fed Governor Jerome Powell said that "market adjustments" over the past month have been "larger than would be justified by any reasonable reassessment" of its policies.
Thursday`s rally came after a report that showed the number of prospective buyers signing contracts to buy previously owned homes surged last month to the highest level in more than six years.
Separately, initial claims for unemployment benefits, a proxy for layoffs, decreased in line with expectations last week, while personal spending alongside personal income rose in May from April.
Also, Yields on the 10-year Treasury notes slipped to 2.474% on Thursday, after rising above 2.6% earlier this week.
The Dollar Index which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of currencies, edged up 0.3 percent to 83.17, after touching a three-week high of 83.43. It was the seventh straight gain for the index.
Gold ended at $1198.87 an ounce, and hit $1197.14 an ounce earlier, the first time to drop below the $1200-per-ounce level since August 2010.
Crude oil futures closed at $96.75 per barrel, up from an open of $95.49, and having earlier hit a high of $97.38, and a low of $95.34 per barrel.
Movers
In corporate news, Clearwire fell 2.1% after Dish Network decided to withdraw its bid for the company after Clearwire shareholders supported a rival bid from Sprint Nextel. Dish and Sprint both rose.
ConAgra Foods rose 5.6% after the company swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter profit and the packaged-food company`s sales continued to improve.
Paychex fell 3.8%, the S&P 500`s biggest decliner, after the payroll and human-resources outsourcing company`s quarterly earnings fell short of analysts` projections.
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