NST Online Business Times : latest
NST Online Business Times : latest |
| US stocks start H2 sharply higher Posted: 01 Jul 2011 04:15 PM PDT NEW YORK: US stocks jumped sharply higher Friday, closing out the best week in two years and starting the second half on a solid positive note. In thin trade ahead of the long July 4 holiday weekend, the Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 168.43 points (1.36 per cent) to 12,582.77. The broader S&P 500 gained 19.03 (1.44 per cent) to 1,339.67, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 42.51 points (1.53 per cent) at 2,816.03. All 30 Dow blue chips were up, led by a 2.8 per cent climb by Alcoa and a 2.2 per cent jump by JP Morgan Chase.
The markets got a boost from the release of the ISM purchasing managers index for the manufacturing sector for June, which climbed 1.8 per cent from May, much better than economists had forecast. But that came after a sharp seven-percent drop in May from April, and the June index remained far below the level achieved in the first four months of the year. The ISM's new orders index rose just 0.6 percent in June, a suggestion of continuing fragility in the sector. There was also good news from the three big automakers, which all turned in solid June sales numbers: Chrysler sales jumped 30 per cent, Ford 14 per cent and General Motors 10 per cent. Ford shares rose 1.7 per cent while GM jumped 0.7 per cent. Chrysler is not publicly traded. Specialty truck maker Oshkosh Corp soared 13.9 per cent on news that raider Carl Icahn had accumulated a 9.5 per cent stake in the company and reportedly plans to pressure management to deliver more to shareholders. Microsoft and Apple were up 0.1 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively after their consortium paid US$4.5 billion to beat out rivals Google and Intel for the valuable patent assets of bankrupt Nortel. Google was no worse for wear; its shares rose 2.9 per cent, while Intel's rose 1.7 per cent. -- AFP |
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