Encouraging data on the European banking sector and the local retail sector boosted traders’ confidence, propelling today’s market into the green.
The Dow Jones industrial average soared 183 points Thursday, extending its winning streak for the third consecutive session.
Traders welcomed the news that the European Central Bank (ECB) has offered to support that region’s lenders by promising to provide unlimited one-year loans to lenders through 2013. This move is expected to protect banks from poorly functioning short-term credit markets. The positive news was slightly offset by the report that the ECB won’t change interest rates, which analysts see as detriment to encouraging lending and boosting the region’s economy.
European and U.S. bank stocks also pushed higher as investors reacted positively on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s statement that the U.S. financial firms had a “very modest” exposure to Europe’s debt problems.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported the number of applications for unemployment benefits rose slightly last month to 401,000, less than what economists had foreseen.
Stoking confidence that the economic recovery is picking up, U.S. retailers Nordstrom Inc., Macy’s Inc., Target Corp., among others, reported September sales figures that outpaced expectations.
While the major components of Dow moved up, the S&P 500 also jumped 20.94, or 1.8% , to 1,164.97; and the Nasdaq composite increased 46.31, or 1.9%, to 2,506.82.
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