美国股市下一步将会怎厶走, 下面的消息或许能够给你一点启示。 如果是在大家恐慌的时候建仓, 你能够获得的风险回报可能会大很多。 U.S. stocks get late-day lift from financials 4:27 PM ET 1/27/10 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Financial stocks led a late rebound in the broader market Wednesday, helped by the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates near zero and a turnaround in American International Group following a House hearing looking back at the insurer's bailout.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average $INDU was in the red for most of the session but ended with a 46-point gain, up 0.5%, at 10,240.47. Its strongest component was Boeing (BA), up 7.3% after the aircraft and defense company swung to a fourth-quarter profit that was bigger than analysts had projected. Read the roundup on Boeing and General Dynamics.
But Caterpillar (CAT) shares slid 4.3%, hurt by the equipment maker's report of a sharp decline in fourth-quarter earnings and forecast 2010 earnings below analysts' estimates. Read more on Caterpillar.
The S&P 500 $SPX was up 0.5%, led by a 2.3% jump in its financial sector, which tends to benefit from low borrowing costs. Among the big individual winners were Bank of America (BAC), up 2.8%; J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), up 2.3%; and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), up 4.5%.
AIG was down early in the session but ended 2.1% higher after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner offered his most detailed remarks yet on the decision to bailout AIG at the height of the financial crisis, when he was president of the New York Fed.
Facing tough questions from several House members of both parties who view the bailout's terms as too favorable to Wall Street firms, Mr. Geithner defended the AIG rescue as a tough but necessary measure to stave off a wider economic crisis.
Major indexes initially dipped but then rallied to new highs following the Fed rate commitee's mid-afternoon policy announcement. The bank's decision to leave its key rate target near zero was widely expected. But several changes in its policy statement, along with a dissenting vote by rate-committee member Thomas M. Hoenig, added fuel to the recent debate about when the Fed might move to fight inflation more aggressively. See The Fed.
"The one dissenter was a bone being tossed to the bullish community who think we're out of the woods," said Cliff Draughn, president and chief investment officer of RIA Excelsia Investment.
With no major surprises, the Fed's reaffirmation of its easy-money policy gave investors "a quick breath of fresh air," Mr. Draughn said. However, unease with political currents and mixed reactions to company earnings have contributed to continuing anxiety.
"What the market's really struggling with is it can't get a clear sense of direction of what policy is going to be to affect earnings," he said.
Investors had been watching the Fed statement closely for any hints of a possible shift toward tougher inflation-fighting later in the year, especially after recent moves by China's central bank to rein in price growth.
The Federal Open Market Committee did make some changes to its language. It changed a sentence from its statement that the economy is "likely to remain weak for a time." The remark had been in place since April 2009, and was changed to "the pace of economic recovery is likely to moderate for some time". The FOMC also said economic activity has continued to "strengthen," slightly more upbeat than "pick up" in the December statement.
"It doesn't look like there's any material change in outlook or policy path, as indicated by the statement here," said Keith Hembre, chief economist and chief investment strategist at American Funds of Minneapolis. "I think we're probably nearing the end of the era of exceptionally easy money, but it's still going to be easy for some time to come given the high level of unemployment."
Several big technology names were in focus Wednesday following important corporate announcements. Apple (AAPL) seesawed between gains and losses before ending 0.9% higher after unveiling its widely anticipated iPad device. Yahoo (YHOO) slipped 0.1% despite announcing that it had swung to a fourth-quarter profit following year earlier charges, helped by a rebound in demand for premium display advertising. See more on Apple tablet.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) rose 0.8%. The small-stock Russell 2000 rose 1%. Read the preview of the president's address.
Still to come Wednesday, President Obama will deliver at 9 p.m. EST the annual State of the Union address, which is garnering more than the usual share of attention among investors given the Obama administration's recent proposal to increase restrictions on banks.
In other markets, the dollar strengthened against both the euro and the Japanese yen. Oil futures slipped below $74 a barrel, while gold futures also fell. Treasury prices edged down, with the 10-year note (UST10Y) off 7/32 to yield 3.648%. |