The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen above the 10,000 mark for the first time in a year amid optimism about a global economic recovery.
The gains were spurred by surging profit at investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co and a promising sales forecast from semiconductor maker Intel. the fortunes of both companies are seen as important indicators of the state of the world economy.
The Dow jumped as much as 130.52 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 10,001.58 for its first advance above 10,000 since Oct. 7, 2008. The Standard & Poors 500 Index increased 1.4 per cent to 1,087.63 at 1.25pm in New York as financial and technology shares led gains. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed countries added 1.6 per cent.
JP Morgan announced today that it had amassed an impressive $3.59bn (£2.25bn) quarterly profit and set aside $7.3bn for staff compensation, ensuring it is on track to hand out as much as $29bn in pay and bonuses this year. Intel said sales of its products – used in mobile phones and computers – would top analysts' expectations by as much as $1 billion.
In Britain, where the FTSE also hit its highest level in a year, statistics suggested the labour force may escape some of the nightmare predictions of just a few months ago.
The rise of 88,000 in the number of unemployed people during the three months to August to 2.469 million is the smallest quarterly increase since May to July last year.
Vicky Redwood, an economist at Capital Economics, said: “It is good news that the rise in unemployment has slowed sharply and it suggests that unemployment might not rise that much above three million.”
She added: “The labour market finally appears to be benefiting from the recent improvement in wider economic conditions. However, both the rise in unemployment and slowdown in pay growth still have significantly further to go.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Dow Jones passes 10,000
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