Wall Street ended the week on an up note on Friday as cooling oil prices diminished fears that the economy could be further singed by inflationary pressures and after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold.
Market action remained volatile through the week, as stocks dived and rallied on alternate days, but finished out the week notably above closing values a week ago.
Investors appeared to largely take in their stride the vast losses announced by mortgage finance giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and announcements by major banks that they would be buying back billions of dollars of tainted securities affected by the credit crunch.
Wall Street booked gains early in the week on Tuesday as the Fed opted to keep its main interest rate pegged at 2 percent as policymakers adopted a wait-and-see approach to lackluster economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip shares rose 3.6 percent in the week to Friday, to end at 11,734.32, while the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 2.85 percent to 1,296.32.
The technology-laden NASDAQ composite surged 4.46 percent for the week to 2,414.10 as investors prepared for fresh economic reports in the coming week.
“Volatility remained high in both the US equity and fixed income markets last week,” economists at Global Insight said in a briefing note.
“However, a less hawkish statement on policy from the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] on Aug. 5, combined with sharply declining energy prices, provided a powerful lift for Dow Jones industrials last week, despite generally weak economic reports,” the Global Insight economists said.
Traders said the markets would be keeping a close eye on oil prices in the coming week and that a government survey on retail sales during July, due for release Wednesday, would also be on Wall Street’s radar.
Bond prices ended the week mixed as the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose slightly to 3.950 percent from 3.948 percent a week earlier, while that on the 30-year bond dropped to 4.555 percent from 4.569 percent.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a