Housing news and interest rate decisions dominated headlines and market sentiment yet again last week. Its easy to forget that there were times when this wasn't the case.
Wall Street resumed its rally this week after new data showed the overall economy is holding up, but isn't so strong as to prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates says Betonmarket's Michael Wright. The Dow Jones industrial average saw an increase of nearly 200 points on Wednesday.
Last week the FOMC was forced to inject the largest amount of liquidity into credit markets since September 2001. This and fresh write down announcements from large financial firms, all but eradicated the gains from the spectacular rally on Wednesday.
Wall Street made a reasonable job of reassuring investors that the economy wasn't as bad as feared last week. Blue chip companies such as Apple and American Express beat earning expectations and Google continued its meteoric rise says Betonmarket's Michael Wright.
Last week Oil continued its ascent into record territory. Just shy of $90 per barrel the much talked about $100 per barrel isn't too far off. Strangely the price still hasn't topped too many headlines, perhaps because prices still sit below £1.00 per litre in the UK. If that dam bursts, UK consumers could be in for a shock says Betonmarket's Michael Wright.
Wall Street advanced sharply last week as investors interpreted minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting, as an indication that the central bank is going to keep cutting interest rates in order to boost the economy.
Last week the Dow Jones poked past the psychologically important 14,000 level. However this push could falter as traders question the strength of the post summer rebound says Betonmarket's Michael Wright.
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