Stocks rose modestly as investors digested testimony from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. The number of initial jobless claims last week fell 2,000 to 351,000, the lowest since March 2008. Personal spending climbed 0.2% as incomes rose 0.3% in January, both less than expected. Construction spending slipped 0.1% in January, marking the first monthly drop since July. And, the ISM manufacturing index fell to 52.4% last month from 54.1% in January, while economists were expecting a rise to 55%. Tech stocks posted solid gains, with Advanced Micro Devices gaining 2.2% after the chip maker said it would buy microserver developer SeaMicro. Zynga rose almost 10%, on announcement that later this month, it would launch a beta version of its new online gaming platform, Zynga.com. Research In Motion fell more than 4% after Jefferies & Co. cut its earnings estimates on the co. and also lowered price target to $12 a share from $15. Implied volatility inched lower on massive trading volumes.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Posted modest gains on mixed economic data
Stocks rose modestly as investors digested testimony from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. The number of initial jobless claims last week fell 2,000 to 351,000, the lowest since March 2008. Personal spending climbed 0.2% as incomes rose 0.3% in January, both less than expected. Construction spending slipped 0.1% in January, marking the first monthly drop since July. And, the ISM manufacturing index fell to 52.4% last month from 54.1% in January, while economists were expecting a rise to 55%. Tech stocks posted solid gains, with Advanced Micro Devices gaining 2.2% after the chip maker said it would buy microserver developer SeaMicro. Zynga rose almost 10%, on announcement that later this month, it would launch a beta version of its new online gaming platform, Zynga.com. Research In Motion fell more than 4% after Jefferies & Co. cut its earnings estimates on the co. and also lowered price target to $12 a share from $15. Implied volatility inched lower on massive trading volumes.
