Page 25 - Aruba Today

BUSINESS A25
This Monday, July 6, 2015, file photo, shows a sign for Wall Street
carved into the side of a building, in New York.
After a wobble,
stocks end higher as
investors watch the Fed
MARLEY JAY
AP Markets Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The
stock market ended sol-
idly higher Wednesday,
recovering from an after-
noon wobble, after the
Federal Reserve indicated
that it will consider raising gages and many other
its benchmark interest rate
at its December meeting.
Bond yields rose and the
dollar climbed against oth-
er currencies as traders an-
ticipated that higher rates
were on the way. The Dow
Jones industrial average
had been up 130 points just
before the Fed released its
policy statement at 2 p.m.
Eastern time, then briefly
retreated into the red after
the statement came out.
By late afternoon the Dow
more than recovered, clos-
ing up 198.09 points, or 1.1
percent, at 17,779.52. The
Standard & Poor’s 500 in-
dex gained 24.46 points,
or 1.2 percent, to 2,090.35.
The Nasdaq composite
picked up 65.55 points, or
1.3 percent, to 5,095.69.
The prospect of higher in-
terest rates set off a rally
in banks, which stand to
make more money on
lending. Bank stocks in the
S&P 500 jumped 2.4 per-
cent, twice as much as the
broader index. The dollar
rose against the yen and
the euro. If the Fed does
begin to raise rates in De-
cember, it would come
as central banks in Europe
and Japan continue to
pursue stimulus programs.
The euro fell sharply against a contract worth up to $80
the dollar, to $1.0925 from
$1.1040 late Tuesday. The
Thursday 29 October 2015
Fed keeps rate at record low
but will consider December hike

Associated Press
dollar rose to 121.03 yen In this Sept. 30, 2015 file photo, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks to a conference of
from 120.33 yen. bankers and financial leaders at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, in St. Louis.
In bond trading, the yield
on the 10-year Treasury Associated Press
note rose to 2.09 percent
from 2.04 percent the day MARTIN CRUTSINGER omy is not cooperating. It on a 9-1 vote, with Jeffrey
earlier. Yields on Treasury AP Economics Writer has to be immensely frus- Lacker, president of the
notes affect rates on mort- WASHINGTON (AP) — The trating ...The global econo- Fed’s Richmond regional
Federal Reserve is keeping my is still decelerating and bank, dissenting. As he had
kinds of loans. its key short-term interest we’re seeing a softening of in September, Lacker fa-
Oil prices soared after Pe- rate at a record low in the growth domestically.” vored a quarter-point rate
mex, the national oil com- face of threats from a weak Stocks gave up some of hike.
pany of Mexico, said it re- global economy and ex- their gains after the Fed’s The Fed has kept the tar-
ceived permission to swap cessively low inflation. But it mid-afternoon announce- get for its benchmark funds
crude oil with the U.S. That suggested the possibility of ment and the yield on the rate at a record low in a
could represent a step to- a rate hike in December. 10-year Treasury note rose range of zero to 0.25 per-
ward ending the U.S. ban A statement the Fed issued slightly. cent since December 2008.
on exporting crude. The Wednesday said it would Ian Shepherdson, chief Yellen after the September
price of oil had had been seek to determine “wheth- economist at Pantheon meeting noted that 13 of 17
sliding since early Octo- er it will be appropriate to Macroeconomics, said he Fed officials expected the
ber and reached its lowest raise the target range at expects a December rate first rate hike to occur this
level in two months Tues- its next meeting” by moni- hike if the jobs reports for year. But some economic
day. The 6.3 percent gain toring the progress on em- October and November reports since then have
Wednesday was the larg- ployment and inflation. It show the labor market is been subpar including a
est increase since Aug. 31. marked the first time in sev- getting stronger. slowdown in job growth for
U.S. crude climbed $2.74 en years of record-low rates “Some combination of September.
to $45.94 a barrel in New that the central bank has payrolls, unemployment Some of the U.S. weakness
York. Brent crude, which is raised the possibility that it and wages signaling con- has occurred because of
used to price international could raise its benchmark tinued improvement will a global economic slow-
oils, rose $2.24, or 4.8 per- rate at its next meeting. In be enough,” he wrote in a down, led by China, that’s
cent, to $49.05 a barrel in a further signal that a rate note to clients. inflicted wide-ranging con-
London. In other energy hike could occur at their Still, the Fed indicated that sequences. U.S. job growth
trading, wholesale gasoline last meeting of the year, the economy is expanding has flagged. Wages and
rose 6.3 cents to close at policymakers sounded only modestly. And in a nod inflation are subpar. Con-
$1.350 a gallon in New York, less gloomy about global to recent weaker data, sumer spending is sluggish.
heating oil rose 6 cents to economic pressures. They policymakers said in their Investors are nervous. And
$1.484 a gallon and natural removed a sentence from statement that the pace of manufacturing is being hurt
gas fell 5.9 3 cents to $2.033 their September statement job gains had slowed — an by a stronger dollar, which
per 1,000 cubic feet. that had warned about indication that they may has made U.S. goods prici-
While the Fed news global pressures after news be concerned about the er overseas.
weighed heavily on the of a sharper-than-expect- pace of hiring. The Fed cut its benchmark
broader market, earnings ed slowdown in China. While many Fed officials rate to near zero during the
reports continued to drive “They implied they’d do it have signaled a desire to Great Recession to encour-
many individual stocks. this year,” Patrick O’Keefe, raise rates before year’s age borrowing and spend-
Northrop Grumman surged director of economic re- end, tepid economic re- ing to boost a weak econ-
$9.90, or 5.5 percent, to search at the accounting ports in recent weeks had omy. Since then, hiring has
$190.50 after the defense firm CohnReznick, said af- led some analysts to pre- significantly strengthened,
contractor said it received ter the Fed issued its state- dict no hike until 2016. and unemployment has
ment after ending its latest The Fed’s statement fallen to a seven-year low
billion to build new bomb- policy meeting. “The econ- Wednesday was approved of 5.1 percent.q
ers for the Air Force. q