Bulls on Wall Street in jolly mood

 

NEW YORK: US stocks pushed higher Monday on optimism about economic improvement amid market hopes of a Santa Claus rally ahead of the Christmas break this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 85.25 points (0.83 per cent) to 10,414.14 after a mixed week as investors welcomed increasing signs that the US and global economies were rebounding from recession.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq climbed 25.97 points (1.17 pe rcent) to 2,237.66 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 broad-market index added 11.58 points (1.05 per cent) to 1,114.05.

“The bulls are in a jolly mood,” analysts at Charles Schwab & Co said in a note to clients on a holiday shorted trading week ahead of Christmas Friday.

“Concerns about the status of global government debt and waning uneasiness regarding the health of the European financial sector are helping support sentiment on the Street,” the analysts said.

Investors are seeing increased signs that the US economy is rebounding but concerned the Federal Reserve will tighten easy credit conditions that existed since the world’s largest economy plunged into recession in December 2007, analysts say.

“There will be talk of a Santa Claus rally this week,” Briefing.com’s Patrick O’Hare said, cautioning however that any lackluster market during this period could also trigger selling.

The stock market rally came amid market support from healthcare issues as key health-care reforms proposed by President Barack Obama passed a major hurdle in the Senate at the weekend.-- AFP