Dow closes at 6-month high on weaker dollar |
Date: 2010/10/28 Click: 1572 |
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U.S. stocks rose on Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing at the highest level since April 26, as the U.S. dollar continued its slide, making commodities and equities more attractive investments.
The dollar fell against its counterparts and hit a 15-year low against the Japanese yen after world leaders failed to come up with a concrete plan to prevent currency war in the future.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 31.49, or 0.28 percent, to 11,164.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 2.54 points, or 0. 21 percent, to 1,185.62 and the Nasdaq was up 11.46 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,490.85.
The Dow failed to hold above its 2010 closing peak of 11,205.03 for the second time in the past week as it trimmed most of the gains quickly in final minutes of trading.
Financials were among the laggards in the market on concerns of their unquantifiable level of exposure to foreclosure issues. ĦĦĦĦ ĦĦĦĦBank of America slipped to new 52-week low after the bank acknowledged some mistakes in foreclosure files as it begins to resubmit documents in 102,000 cases, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Monday that regulators have been concerned about "reported irregularities in foreclosure practices at a number of large financial institutions" and are conducting an in-depth review.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors said sales of previously occupied homes rose 10 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million in September after the worst summer for the housing market in more than a decade.
However, the most-battered sector is still far from recovery, especially when the industry fears that potential lawsuits over flawed foreclosure documents could keep buyers away from buying in the final months of the year.
Wall Street has already climbed for three straight weeks, lifted by robust corporate earnings. With more important companies like Exxon Mobil and Microsoft reporting their results during the week, investors were hoping stocks can continue the rising momentum in coming days. |