US stocks boosted by positive central bank actions 29 January 2016
(1)Wall Street closed (6)its final trading day in January on a high note buoyed by developments from (7)global central banks. (2)The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 390.08 points, or 2.43%, to 16,459.72. (3)The S&P 500 climbed 46 points, or 2.43%, to 1,939.36, while (4)the Nasdaq Composite gained 107.28 points, or 2.38%, to 4,613.95.
Global markets were boosted Friday by news that the Bank of Japan introduced (8)a negative interest rate. Data released on Friday showed US gross domestic product in the fourth quarter rose an annualised 0.7%, falling short of expectations. The figures have led to speculation that (5)the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates again in the near term.
"This basically sets the tone that central banks are going to have to boost the economy," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial. Stocks have fallen sharply in January. The S&P 500 recording its worst start since 2009.
Microsoft was a bright spot for the Nasdaq. Its shares gained 5.8% on Friday. (9)Office-supply company Xerox also saw its share price rise 5.6% after it announced it would split into two companies. Chevron shares managed to pull off a modest rise of 0.64% despite reporting its first money loosing quarter since 2002. The company pledged to continue (10)cost cutting measures, including layoffs, to offset the falling price of oil.