THE United States stocks rose, after Thursday’s biggest selloff-for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in more than a month, as central banks’ pledges on stimulus efforts overshadowed a rise in American jobless claims.
Reuters reports that McDonald’s Corporation and Hewlett-Packard Company added more than 1.2 per cent to pace advances in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Best Buy Company rose by 14 per cent, the most in the S&P 500, after Samsung Electronics Company said it would staff mini-stores at the retailer’s US locations.
Facebook Incorporated climbed by 3.6 per cent as it announced smartphone software with a modified version of Google Incorporated’s operating system.
The S&P 500 rose by 0.3 per cent to 1,559.02 at 2:36 p.m. in New York. The Dow gained 52.15 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 14,602.50.
Trading among S&P 500 shares was in line with the 30- day average at this time of day.
“Expectations were high for the Bank of Japan and they managed to exceed expectations,” Janelle Nelson, a Minneapolis- based portfolio analyst with RBC Wealth Management’s portfolio advisory group, said in a phone interview.
Her firm manages about $315bn in client assets. “The big issue for investors will be what the US employment report shows tomorrow.”
Equities climbed after the Bank of Japan strengthened a stimulus program that will see the central bank buy $73bn of bonds a month. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled the bank will keep monetary policy loose for an extended period and that further easing is possible if economic conditions deteriorate. ECB officials meeting in Frankfurt left interest rates on hold.
The bull market in equities entered its fifth year last month, with the S&P 500 more than doubling from its bottom in 2009, as corporate earnings topped estimates and the Federal Reserve carried out an unprecedented three rounds of bond purchases to spur the economy.