Tag: stock market news

Around a year ago, world markets witnessed all time low figures (after global crisis). On March 9, 2009, MSCI all-economy world index exhibited numbers that are rarely seen throughout the world. In less than 16 months, value of stocks fell by around 60%, which is a considerable fall in any market. This year, however, the stocks rallied back and recovered around 80% till January 2010. And people started becoming optimistic about the fundamentals that drove the market. With worries about Euro debt, equity markets are definitely not optimistic today, which now questions the recovery of the US economy and futility of several stimulus packages. Post January, we have seen a gradual fall in the market. It seems that MSCI index is going through tough times. Probably it needs few more stimulus packages. Few experts, on Tuesday, commented about current market instability. From Odey Asset Management,  [...]

Stocks on Tuesday closed marginally higher than the Monday level as the day saw both highs and lows. Finally the stocks closed at 13 month high for the second consecutive day thanks to commodity linked shares that offset the decline in retail shares. The Dow increased by about 30 points(0.3%) to end the day at 10,437.42 points. The S&P 500 increased marginally by 1 points to close just above the 1,100 level. The Nasdaq composite increased by 0.3% to close at 2,203.78. Since October 2008 all these three indexes are currently at their highest level. The sectors which gained on Tuesday included Materials (gain of 0.9%), Telecom (gain of 0.6%), Tech (gain of 0.5%), Consumer Staples (gain of 0.2%), Financials (gain of 0.1%) and Health Care (gain of 0.1%). Consumer discretionary and Utilities registered a decline of 0.7% and 0.4% respectively. Industrials and Energy stocks closed the  [...]

US stock markets reached new high on Monday (November 9, 2009) with Dow increasing by 204 points to reach 2009 high. Worldwide also stock markets registered gain. The markets were helped by G-20 countries announcement to continue with economic stimulus to revive the economies .With this announcement stocks gained as investors became more confident that low interest rates will be maintained to revive the global economy. On Monday Dow increased by 204 points or 2 percent, to close at 10,226.94 which is its highest level in 13 months. Other indices like S&P and Nasdaq composite also registered gains. Standard & Poor's 500 index increased by 23.78 points or 2.2 percent  to 1,093.08. The Nasdaq composite index increased by 41.62 points or 2 percent to close at 2,154.06. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies increased by 11.96 points or 2.1 percent to close at 592.31. Year to  [...]

Last month the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 10,000 points, passing the emblematic mark for the first time since Oct 2008 bringing optimism to investors across the world. Since hitting a 12 year low of 6,547 on March 9 2009, the Dow Jones industrial average has increased by 53 percent. Other indices like the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index, which measures a broader base of major stocks, also reported gains. Year to date, the Dow is up 14.1 per cent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have increased by 20.9 per cent and 37.7 per cent respectively. Small stocks have also registered increase as indicated by the Russell 2000 index which has increased by 24.9 per cent. Since January Dow has increased mainly due to gains in financials and technology stocks. The big gainers among the financial and technology stocks have been American Express (up by 89.2 per cent),  [...]

We keep on hearing news that Dow is up and so the market is great and vice versa. This might give you an impression that the Dow Jones Industrial Average or Dow is the heart of the market. Then you also hear about other indices like S&P 500 or the Nasdaq Composite further confusing you whether to be positive about the market or not. Lets try to understand these indices and what they try to tell us about the market. What is an Index? A stock market index is a way of measuring performance of certain stocks in stock market. Stock market index by itself is not such an important number. What is important is the change from an original or base value. An up or down movement gives an indicator of how the particular segment of stock that the index covers is performing and thus how the overall stock market is performing. There are various way of classifying stocks into stock market indices.  [...]