After powerful equity relief rallies on a European debt crisis deal and stronger US economic growth, Wall Street investors are poised to refocus on the home front in the week ahead.
On Friday, US stocks piled up gains for the fifth straight week in volatile trade that has become the norm in recent months as the Greek sovereign debt crisis raged.
Investors around the world held their breath and then exhaled after EU leaders in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday agreed to a plan to rescue Greece, recapitalize banks and bolster the eurozone financial system.
Even without details on how the actions will be implemented, especially questions about the deal for the private sector to take a 50 percent loss on the face value of Greek debt, markets were ready to celebrate EU stabilization.
“We needed Europe to get out of the way, the day-to-day problems, conflicts and whether they are going to default or not default ... you’re not going to solve everything, but get a plan,” Marc Pado at Cantor Fitzgerald said.
Wall Street stocks jumped about 3 percent or more on Thursday on relief the EU finally had a solid plan and new numbers that showed the US economy grew 2.5 percent in the third quarter, quelling recession fears.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 3.58 percent higher over the week to end at 12,231.11 points on Friday.
It was the Dow’s fifth straight week of gains, carrying the key stocks indicator back to its highest levels since July 28.
The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite added 3.78 percent over the week, to 2,737.15 points.
And the S&P 500 index, a broader measure of the markets, also increased 3.78 percent, to 1,285.08 points.
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