Stocks surged after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled the central bank was not about to abandon its current monetary policy. Ahead of the opening bell, Bernanke said it’s not yet certain the recent pace of improvement in the nation’s labor market will be sustained, noting a still-high unemployment rate and the large number of people who have been out of work for more than six months. Further improvements could be supported by “continued accommodative policies,” he added. Technology stocks joined a broad market rally. AT&T announced plans to launch the first LTE-based phone using Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system and added 0.86%. Also, eBay added 2.7% and Qualcomm gained 2.9% after Morgan Stanley raised its price targets. AOL was up 4.4% after Bloomberg News reported that the company has hired an investment banker to find a buyer for its patents. On the downside, Micron Technology shed 1.8% after Oppenheimer downgraded the stock to a perform, or neutral, rating. Yahoo moved up 1% after the co. announced that its board had named three new independent directors: John Hayes, Peter Liguori and Thomas McInerney. Implied volatility inched lower on massive trading volumes.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Surged on comments from Bernanke
Stocks surged after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled the central bank was not about to abandon its current monetary policy. Ahead of the opening bell, Bernanke said it’s not yet certain the recent pace of improvement in the nation’s labor market will be sustained, noting a still-high unemployment rate and the large number of people who have been out of work for more than six months. Further improvements could be supported by “continued accommodative policies,” he added. Technology stocks joined a broad market rally. AT&T announced plans to launch the first LTE-based phone using Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system and added 0.86%. Also, eBay added 2.7% and Qualcomm gained 2.9% after Morgan Stanley raised its price targets. AOL was up 4.4% after Bloomberg News reported that the company has hired an investment banker to find a buyer for its patents. On the downside, Micron Technology shed 1.8% after Oppenheimer downgraded the stock to a perform, or neutral, rating. Yahoo moved up 1% after the co. announced that its board had named three new independent directors: John Hayes, Peter Liguori and Thomas McInerney. Implied volatility inched lower on massive trading volumes.
