Stocks fell modestly in closing the books on strong February gains, with the Dow rising for a fifth straight month. Comments from Ben Bernanke dampened investors’ enthusiasm. He said keeping monetary stimulus is warranted but climbing energy costs would likely hike inflation temporarily and that the decline in the nation’s jobless rate had been more rapid than expected. Stock gains were supported by a gauge of business activity in the Chicago area rising more than expected in February. Also, GDP for the final three months of 2011 was revised up to 3% growth from an initial reading of 2.8%. Tech stocks followed the broader market and closed mostly in the red. Apple hit another milestone, closing at $542.44 and pushing the company’s market capitalization above $500 billion. Western Digital lost 0.33% after the co. announced late Tuesday deals involving hard-disk-drive manufacturing facilities with Toshiba Corp. Activision Blizzard fell 0.91% after the co. said it would lay off about 600 employees from its Blizzard Entertainment unit, the game’s development team won’t be affected by the job cuts. Implied volatility little changed on massive trading volumes.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Fell modestly after Bernanke's testimony
Stocks fell modestly in closing the books on strong February gains, with the Dow rising for a fifth straight month. Comments from Ben Bernanke dampened investors’ enthusiasm. He said keeping monetary stimulus is warranted but climbing energy costs would likely hike inflation temporarily and that the decline in the nation’s jobless rate had been more rapid than expected. Stock gains were supported by a gauge of business activity in the Chicago area rising more than expected in February. Also, GDP for the final three months of 2011 was revised up to 3% growth from an initial reading of 2.8%. Tech stocks followed the broader market and closed mostly in the red. Apple hit another milestone, closing at $542.44 and pushing the company’s market capitalization above $500 billion. Western Digital lost 0.33% after the co. announced late Tuesday deals involving hard-disk-drive manufacturing facilities with Toshiba Corp. Activision Blizzard fell 0.91% after the co. said it would lay off about 600 employees from its Blizzard Entertainment unit, the game’s development team won’t be affected by the job cuts. Implied volatility little changed on massive trading volumes.
