US stocks finish higher
Wall Street closed out another erratic week with a big gain today after investors took comments from President George W Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as reassuring signs Wall Street won’t be left to deal with problems in the mortgage and credit markets on its own.
Investors balked early in today’s session when comments from Bernanke did not indicate a cut in the benchmark federal funds rate was imminent. However, they moved past some of their initial disappointment and appeared to concentrate on comments that the Fed would step in if needed.
Bernanke, speaking at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., said the central bank will “act as needed” to prevent the credit crisis from hurting the national economy.
The major indexes fluctuated but by midday extended their gains after Bush spoke about details of a plan to help borrowers facing trouble paying their mortgages.
“You’ve got all the speeches working for the market here,” said Michael Church, portfolio manager at Church Capital Management in Philadelphia.
“What we’ve seen in the last few weeks is that Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve are paying attention to what’s going on. They will help correct the credit markets. For now, we’re in a trading range and we have to sort through this mess.”
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 119.01, or 0.90%, to 13,357.74.
Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 16.35, or 1.12%, to 1,473.99, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 31.06, or 1.21%, to 2,596.36.
