Economy
CLOSING BELL: July 27: DJIA: 13,075.66 | UP 187.73 | +1.46%
OIL: $90.13, UP .74, +0.83%
GOLD: $1,618.00, UP 2.90 +.18%
GASOLINE (US Avg): $3.490, DOWN .002
Dow hits 13,000 as stocks rally
Ben Rooney, CNNMoney - U.S. stocks rallied Friday on hopes that central banks in Europe and the United States will take steps to support the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 188 points, or 1.5%, to end above the 13,000 mark, a psychologically important level it has not crossed since early May.
The S&P 500 added 26 points, or 1.9%, and the Nasdaq gained 65 points, or 2.2%.
The major indexes are all ended higher for the week. The Dow rose 2% for the week, the S&P added 1.7% and the Nasdaq gained 1.1%.
Friday’s rally was driven mainly by “chatter” the European Central Bank will intervene in the bond market to ease borrowing costs for Spain and Italy, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
“Stocks are moving higher on the hopes that we finally will see some action to stabilize the situation in Europe,” said Cardillo.
French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a joint statement Friday that they are “committed to do everything to protect the eurozone.” ECB president Mario Draghi said Thursday that the bank will do “whatever it takes” to preserve the euro.
Draghi will meet this weekend with officials from the German central bank, which has resisted buying bonds in the secondary market, ahead of next week’s policy meeting, according to Bloomberg. The wire service said Draghi is pushing a plan to buy bonds, lower interest rates and offer additional liquidity to European banks.
Read the rest of this article at CNNMoney here.
The Common Good publishes a financial market wrap-up every weekday after markets close, available here.
