United States stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a record high, as the European Central Bank cut its key interest rate and American jobless claims unexpectedly fell.
Facebook Incorporated added five per cent as the operator of the world’s largest social network reported sales that topped projections. General Motors Company rose by 3.9 percent as it narrowed its first-quarter loss in Europe.
Bloomberg News reports that MetLife Incorporated and Prudential Financial Incorporated climbed by more than four per cent after the insurers’ earnings beat forecasts.
The S&P 500 rose by one per cent to 1,597.89 in New York, erasing Wednesday’s decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 121.57 points, or 0.8 percent, to 14,822.52. Trading in S&P 500 stocks was in line with the 30-day average during this time of day.
“The ECB did the minimum it needed to do,” Michael Strauss, who helps oversee about $25bn of assets as chief investment strategist at Commonfund Group in Wilton, Connecticut, said by telephone.
“Are they way behind the curve? Yes, but it at least showed that they’re recognizing the economic deterioration in the euro zone. The announcement was widely expected but on the margin it provided some help and the jobless claims data provided some help.”
ECB policy makers meeting in Bratislava lowered the main refinancing rate to 0.5 per cent from 0.75 per cent, a move predicted by 45 of 70 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
“Our monetary policy will remain accommodative for as long as needed” and officials “will monitor very closely all incoming information” in the months ahead, ECB President Mario Draghi said at a press conference.