Market advances on staples, tech rebound
|
|
|
By Ellis MnyanduNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday as investors snapped up shares of companies seen better positioned to withstand an economic downturn after Goldman Sachs forecast a U.S. recession in 2008.Investors bought defensive stocks including drugmakers such as Merck & Co and Pfizer Inc , and those of consumer staple companies such as Altria Group Inc , parent of cigarette maker Philip Morris.After Tuesday's sell-off took the S&P 500 stock index to its most oversold since March and cemented Wall Street's worst ever start to a year, investors scoured the market for stocks in beaten-down sectors, especially in technology.Shares of software maker Microsoft Corp , chip maker Intel Corp and computer services company International Business Machines Corp were among the tech standouts."It's beginning to dawn on people that the selling is overdone," said Michael Williams, chief investment strategist at Tocqueville Asset Management in New York.The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 71.69 points, or 0.57 percent, at 12,660.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 6.40 points, or 0.46 percent, at 1,396.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 13.63 points, or 0.56 percent, at 2,454.14.A favorable profit forecast from chemical company DuPont Co , a Dow component, also cushioned the market, along with optimism about news that the White House is considering a stimulus package to spur the economy.Even so, defensive stocks dominated, with shares of diversified healthcare company Johnson &Johnson up 1.7 percent at $68.05. It was the Dow's third top advancer, behind DuPont and IBM.DuPont shares rose 5.6 percent to $45.14 on the New York Stock Exchange. Merck shares were up 0.9 percent at $60.20, while Altria jumped 0.4 percent to $78.62.On the Nasdaq shares of Apple , the maker of the iPod and the iPhone, jumped 0.3 percent to $171.76, while Intel shares gained 2 percent to $22.70. These stocks were among those that had contributed to the Nasdaq's 8th straight day of losses on Tuesday.In a note to clients, Goldman said U.S. real gross domestic product would contract by 1 percent on an annualized basis in both the second and third quarters. For all of 2008, the investment bank said GDP would rise by only 0.8 percent.(Editing by James Dalgleish)
(c) Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related News
FDIC: 'Problem' banks at 16-year high in US
Washington - The number of US banks in danger of collapse has risen to the highest level in 16 years, a government regulator reported Tuesday in a sign that the country's worst financial crisis in decades is still lingering. The Federal Deposit Insur...
American shoppers lace up racing shoes for Black Friday
Los Angeles - Up to 134 million Americans are expected to splash out with their cash when the holiday shopping season kicks off on traditional Black Friday. The National Retail Federation Tuesday said it anticipated that the easing recession will sen...
US stocks edge lower on revised growth figures
New York - US stocks fell slightly on Tuesday as government figures showed that last quarter's economic rebound was smaller than initially thought. The Commerce Department in an updated estimate said the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8 per cent...
US economic rebound smaller than thought; Fed optimistic - Summary
Washington - The US economy's rebound from a deep recession was smaller than initially thought, according to new government figures Tuesday, while the Federal Reserve said it expects the country's recovery to pick up...
EXTRA: US central bank issues rosier outlook on economy
Washington - The Federal Reserve Tuesday raised its growth forecasts for the US economy, but warned that unemployment in the United States will remain for some time at its highest levels in a generation. The US central bank projected the world's larg...
US levies first-ever fines on airlines who stranded passengers
Washington - Three US airlines were fined a total of 175,000 dollars on Tuesday for leaving passengers stranded nearly six hours on an aircraft, the first-ever such penalty imposed by the US government. Continental Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines we...
US economy grew 2.8 per cent in third quarter - Summary
Washington - The US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8 per cent in the third quarter of this year, according to an updated government estimate Tuesday that confirmed the United States has likely emerged from its deepest recession in decades. But t...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
