*from www.bloomberg.com, Mar. 7, 2013 (To view original article click here.)
Take Away #1: The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to another record high as the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits fell to a six-week low.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The Dow rose 45.92 points, or 0.3% to a record 14,342.16 today.
- The S&P 500 Index (SPX) added 0.2% to 1,544.79, at 11:43 a.m. in New York, the highest level on a closing basis since Oct. 31, 2007.
- Trading in S&P 500 companies was 12% below the 30-day average at this time of day.
- The benchmark index has surged 128% from a 12-year low in 2009 as companies reported better than estimated earnings and the Fed embarked on three rounds of bond purchases to stimulate the economy.
- Bank of America Corp. rallied 2.4% as financial stocks advanced.
- Cienna Corp. and JDS Uniphase Corp. surged at least 7.5%.
- Colgate-Palmolove Co. jumped 0.5%.
Take Away #2: First-time jobless claims fell and payrolls may have risen.
Key Facts and Figures:
- First-time jobless claims fell 7,000 to 340,000 in the week ended March 2.
- A Labor Department report tomorrow may show nonfarm payrolls rose by 163,000 last month while the unemployment rate held steady at 7.9%.
- The general employment picture in the U.S. has stabilized, says chief economist at Warren Financial Service.
Take Away #3: European Central Bank President believes the euro-area economy will gradually recover later this year, and ECB predicts the economy will shrink.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The ECB today predicted the 17-nation economy will shrink 0.4% this year, more than the 0.3% contraction forecast three months ago.
- The central bank lowered its 2014 inflation projection to 1.3% from 1.4%.
- ECB President Mario Draghi says that while risks to the economic outlook are on the downside, risks to the inflation outlook remain “broadly balanced.”
Take Away #4: Brian Belski of BMO Capital Markets calls the whole market a ‘Bunker’ bull market, meaning people are still in the bunker and not really believing in it quite yet.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Financial companies rallied the most out of the 10 S&P 500 groups, jumping 0.5%.
- 21 of the 24 members in the KBW Bank Index (BKX) rose, as the gauge climbed 1%.
- Investors bought shares of companies tied to economic growth, sending energy, material, and industrial stocks percent higher among S&P 500 groups.
*To view original article from www.bloomberg.com click here.