A first in six months. Are these finally those green shoots we’ve been reading about? I’m not holding my breath, but a lot of indicators seem to be at least a little positive. A definite uptick from either not so negative or neutral that had everyone excited earlier this year.
From the link:
In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was 2 percent, or 179 points, higher, while the broader Standard and Poor’s 500-stock index rose 22 points, or 2.2 percent. The Nasdaq gained 44 points, or 2.3 percent.
“We’ve had an exceptional rally here,” said Peter Cardillo, the chief market economist at Avalon Partners. “In the remainder of the summer we’ll see the S.&P. challenging the 1,000 mark.”
“The housing market does point to signs of stabilizing and that obviously is key to consumer confidence to begin to rebuild,” Mr. Cardillo said. “If we see daylight in the housing market that will give another indication that the economy crawling out of recession in the fourth quarter is achievable.”
Shares were up across all sectors in the S.&P., led by telecommunications, consumer goods and energy. Ford, which is the only Detroit automaker now publicly traded, was up almost 11 percent.