Dow crosses 13,000 for first time since before 2008 financial crisis
The 13,000 level is a psychological milepost, but in a market built on perception, it could influence more cautious investors to pump more money back into the stock market, analysts said.
“You need notches along the way to measure things, and that’s as good as any,” said John Manley, chief equity strategist for Wells Fargo’s funds group. “Is 50 older than 49 and a half? Yes, by six months. Do those six months really make a difference? Probably not. But it does give us a fixed point, something we can look at.”
Stocks dropped back slightly after hitting the mark. Just after 11:45 a.m. EST, the Dow was up 37 points at 12,987. In other trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up five points at 1,366. The Nasdaq composite index was up nine points at 2,961.
European markets fell after the Greece deal was announced. Stocks were down almost 4 percent in Greece, a little more than 1 percent in Spain and less than 1 percent in France and Britain. But the euro rose slightly at $1.32, which could be seen as a sign of confidence in European markets.
Investors noted that Greece remains in deep recession. Its private-sector investors were also forced to take a 53.5 percent loss on the face value of their bonds, which could discourage future investment.
The U.S. stock market has climbed steadily this year, primarily because of optimism about the economy. High gasoline prices are emerging as a chief concern for the economic recovery for the rest of the year, though.
A gallon of regular costs $3.57 on average, 40 cents more than a year ago and the highest on record for this time of year. With tension building over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Iran has halted oil exports to Britain and France and threatened to stop shipping to other European countries.
On Tuesday, U.S. markets enjoyed strong earnings reports from several big-name companies, including Home Depot and Dollar Thrifty. The exception was Wal-Mart, which reported a 15 percent drop in quarterly profits.
Overall, though, investors seemed comfortable moving money into the higher-risk stock market and out of safer investments like government bonds. The yield on the government’s benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.05 percent from 2.01 percent Friday, a sign that fewer investors wanted the bonds.
0 comments: