(As of 7:30 am PST)
Stocks are rising this morning with the Dow Jones and
S&P 500 already hitting intraday record highs. Today kicks off day 2 of Ben Bernanke’s
testimony before Congress on US economic conditions and the Fed’s monetary
policies. The Chairman did not provide
any new information in his testimony yesterday, however he did indicate that a
plan for tapering the Fed’s bond purchases is not set in stone. Big Ben will be discussing the Fed’s interest
rate policy today with the Senate Banking Committee. Positive economic reports are propelling
markets higher today. Jobless claims
fell 24,000 in the recent week to the lowest level since May, better than
expected. The Philly Fed manufacturing
survey surprised to the upside, surging to its highest level since March 2011, while
analysts expected a slight decline.
Lastly, a report on leading economic indicators remained unchanged. Asian markets closed mixed with the Japanese
Nikkei up 1.3% on a weakening yen. The
Shanghai Composite index fell 1% as China’s finance minister said late
Wednesday that the Chinese government was not likely to use fiscal stimulus
this year. In Europe, stocks are moving
up. Commodities are higher with gold up
$5 and oil continues to surge up over 1% to $107.60. The recent rise in oil is a negative for the
US consumer as it means higher gas prices at the pump and less discretionary
dollars to be used for other goods and services. Look for a positive day on the markets, with
earnings announcements impacting certain sectors more than others.
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