The Dow Jones industrial average was up 118.58 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 18,412.28, the S&P 500 had gained 12.05 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 2,175.17 and the Nasdaq Composite had added 33.20 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 5,328.38.
Advertisement
Real estate companies rose more than the rest of the market, with the newly created real estate component of the S&P 500 up 1.7 percent.
“There’s plenty of data that doesn’t support the market here, but what else are you going to invest in?” he said.
The technology index .SPLRCT rose 0.5 percent, giving the benchmark S&P 500 index its biggest boost.
The decision caused bond prices to rise and the US dollar to fall against other major currencies, which in turn help boost commodity prices since they are priced in dollars. The two best performing parts of the S&P 500 this year are utilities and telecoms, up 18 percent and 15 percent respectively.
High-dividend payers like real estate and phone companies rose Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rate near their historic lows.
In corporate news, shipping company Moeller-Maersk traded higher after announcing it will split into two separate units. The Fed said the USA job market has strengthened and economic activity has picked up but business investment is soft and inflation too low.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said the US central bank’s failure to get back to a strategy of gradual rate increases may threaten the ongoing USA economic recovery.
USA stocks were broadly higher Thursday, helped by a rise in prices for crude oil and other commodities. USA benchmark crude was up $1.11 to $46.45 a barrel, while Brent crude, used to price global oils, rose 85 cents to $47.68 a barrel.
There were further sharp gains for bond prices as global yields continued to decline with U.S. 10-year rate dipping to lows below 1.61% from 1.70% earlier this week.
The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index rose 3.9 percent after hitting its highest level since August 2015.
Other commodities were also rising, which helped out materials stocks. Murphy Oil jumped 4 percent.
NEW YORK, Sept 23 The dollar index whipsawed through the day but ended up little moved on Friday from its late Thursday levels as investors kept positions tight ahead of Monday’s USA presidential debate.
The dollar fell to its lowest in a week against a basket of major currencies as investors sold the greenback following the Fed’s reduction of longer-term interest rate expectations.
Advertisement
The US currency lost ground against the Euro and Sterling with EUR/USD above 1.1200.
