Wall Street Close Positive in First Week of 2012
Wall Street stock market closed the first week of 2012 with a positive, aided by the improving economic data the United States (U.S.), one of which is the unemployment rate which is almost touching the lowest point in three years.
The U.S. economy is in accelerating recovery and is now more focused on investor sentiment from the outside, the debt crisis in Europe.
“The news from Europe were all negative throughout the week, and we (the U.S.) will complete (the crisis) it. I think this is a pretty good performance for the market situation,” said the Harbor Advisory Corp chief investment officer Jack De Gan in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, quoted by Reuters on Saturday (01/13/2012).
In this week, the Dow Jones grew 1.2%, the S & P rose 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite Index increased 2.7%, reinforcement came from sectors that are weak enough in the last year.
U.S. economic data released this week showed no improvement in the unemployment rate, home ownership and retail markets. Particularly unemployment rate fell much more than government estimates.
In trading Friday, the Dow Jones and S & P weakened thin. Both are affected by negative sentiment about high yield debt securities Italy and Spain, coupled with the unrest in the Middle East.
Next week, Italy and Spain re-sell the bonds. Investors are wary because of the previous turnover Italian bonds hit 7% interest, while the Spanish 10-year coupon bonds also crept up to 5.758%.
Last Friday, the Dow Jones index closed down 55.78 points (0.45%) to as low as 12359.92. The S & P 500 Index fell 3.25 points (0.25%) 1277.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 4.36 points (0.16%) to a level of 2674.22.
Trading volume was thin, only about 6.3 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and Amex, compared with an average daily transaction last year’s 7.84 billion shares.