Stocks rallied, with the major indexes surging more than 2%, as investors grew hopeful that more stimulus for the global economy is around the corner. The Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy maintained a moderate pace of growth from early April to late May. The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate at 1% and ECB President Mario Draghi told a news conference in Frankfurt that the euro area’s recovery was expected to come gradually and mentioned some members preferred a rate cut. Bank of America leapt 7.6%, leading gains that included all 30 of the blue-chip index’s components. Tech stocks also closed with broad gains as Groupon rallied 8.6% after Stifel Nicolaus raised its rating. Oracle rose 3.1% ahead of a company announcement related to cloud computing. Facebook rose 3.6% after JMP Securities initiated its coverage with a market outperform rating and $37-a-share price target. Implied volatility plunged below the 22.5 level on modest trading volumes.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Surged on Fed hopes
Stocks rallied, with the major indexes surging more than 2%, as investors grew hopeful that more stimulus for the global economy is around the corner. The Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy maintained a moderate pace of growth from early April to late May. The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate at 1% and ECB President Mario Draghi told a news conference in Frankfurt that the euro area’s recovery was expected to come gradually and mentioned some members preferred a rate cut. Bank of America leapt 7.6%, leading gains that included all 30 of the blue-chip index’s components. Tech stocks also closed with broad gains as Groupon rallied 8.6% after Stifel Nicolaus raised its rating. Oracle rose 3.1% ahead of a company announcement related to cloud computing. Facebook rose 3.6% after JMP Securities initiated its coverage with a market outperform rating and $37-a-share price target. Implied volatility plunged below the 22.5 level on modest trading volumes.
