Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Wall Street rises on upbeat economic data

August 26, 2009
Wall Street rose moderately higher Tuesday, as better-than-expected consumer confidence and home prices boosted the market.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence index rose to 54.1 in August from 46.6 in July, the first gain in three months and much better than 47.5 economists had expected.

The reading bolstered optimism the recession is ending, as consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activities.

Meanwhile, investors also digested better-than-estimated home prices report. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price index, which measures changes in home prices in 20 major cities, declined15.4 percent from a year earlier, the smallest drop since April 2008.

The gauge rose from the prior month by the most in four years, signaling the real estate crisis that triggered the worst recession since the 1930s is easing.

Moreover, traders also got alleviated, after President Barack Obama announced the reappointment of Ben Bernanke to a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chairman.

The Dow Jones rose 75.58 to 9,584.86. Broader indexes also went higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 7.10 to 1,032.67 and the Nasdaq rose 11.11 to 2,029.09.