While you were sleeping: Wall St flat, Bernanke speaks

Tuesday 8th December 2009

Shares on Wall Street were little changed ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. In his speech, which began a short time ago, Bernanke said the US economy would need more time to recover.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose .29% to 10,418.83 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 0.16% to 1107. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.06% to 2195.68.

Among the biggest gainers were Verizon, Boeing, Alcoa, AT&T and American Express. Caterpillar and Pfizer were among the biggest decliners.

For the most part, Wall Street was little changed ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, which is known as Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’ rose 3.1% to 21.91.

The U.S. dollar rose 0.2% to US$1.4831 per euro, extending gains after Friday’s jobs report. The yen strengthened 0.9% to 89.73 against the dollar and 1.1% to 133.09 per euro.

The Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, declined 0.2% to 75.914.

U.S. Treasuries were higher on hopes that Bernanke would say the economy might not be as strong as some recent measures suggested.

The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, which tracks 19 raw materials, fell 0.47% to 272.58.

Both oil and gold fell as the U.S. dollar advanced, in part as expectations shifted on the timing of a change in interest rate policy. Friday’s jobs data was interpreted by some investors as a sign that rates might rise sooner than later.

Crude oil for January fell 92 cents to US$74.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Copper fell for a third day. Copper for March fell 5.5 cents to US$3.1825 a pound.

Gold fell 1.9% to US$1147.40.

In Europe, The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell 0.46% to 247.88. Among national benchmarks, the U.K. ’s FTSE 100 fell 0.22% to 5310.66 and Germany ’s DAX 30 fell 0.57% to 5784.75. France ’s CAC 40 rose 1.08% to 3840.05.

Weaker bank shares were the main reason why stocks slid in Europe on Monday led by HSBC, Barclays and Credit Suisse. Germany ’s Siemens fell after a broker downgrade.

Businesswire.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet