Economy
CLOSING BELL: August 17th: DJIA: 13,275.20 | UP 25.09 | +0.19%
OIL: $96.01, UP 0.41, +0.43%
GOLD: $1,619.40, UP 0.20, +0.01%
GASOLINE (US Avg): $3.716, UP .006
Global stocks rise on German backing for ECB bond action
Herbert Lash, Reuters – Global shares and the dollar advanced on Friday as apparent support from German Chancellor Angela Merkel for European Central Bank intervention to calm the euro zone’s debt troubles lifted investor sentiment for a second day.
A record high for Apple Inc (AAPL.O) shares boosted U.S. stocks, and traders eyed a breakout to a new four-year peak, just half a percentage point away on the benchmark S&P 500.
The CBOE VIX volatility index .VIX, seen as a gauge of investor angst on Wall Street, plumbed a five-year low in a probable sign that investors see little risk on the horizon.
A key European index hit a 13-month high on speculation euro zone policymakers might be closer to resolving their differences and working closely to tackle the more than two-year-old debt crisis.
In another indication of changing perceptions in Europe, a growing number of economists have concluded that Greece’s fate lies inside the euro zone rather than outside, as previously thought, according to a Reuters poll.
Merkel voiced support for ECB President Mario Draghi’s crisis-fighting strategy on Thursday and urged her European partners to move swiftly toward a closer integration of fiscal policies, saying time was running short.
Read the rest of this article at Reuters here.
The Common Good publishes a financial market wrap-up every weekday after markets close, available here.
