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Wall Street Pushes Forward

Published 11/04/09 Craig Harrington - Print Article
E-mail - editor@economyincisis.org

Yesterday was a mixed bag for American investment markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.18 percent (17.53 points), while the others gained on the day – the NASDAQ gained 0.40 percent (8.12 points) followed by the S&P which gained 0.24 percent (2.53 points).

Today however the markets were upbeat after futures momentum and global investments showed signs of uplift. Strong opening numbers pushed each of the Wall Street composites to gains of 1 percent or more in the first hour of trading. CNNMoney.com reports that these gains are likely driven by elections wins by pro-business Republicans in a handful of elections Tuesday.

However, according to Bloomberg News, the momentum can largely be explained by normal market factors such as anticipation ahead of the Federal Reserve’s announcement on interest rate changes.

In other news, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) published a press release today showing a projection of 203,000 job losses for the month of October. These monthly releases by ADP outpace official numbers by a few weeks, and are typically seen as a solid early indication of what to expect on the job front. The 203,000 job cuts are not good for the economy, as it continues to shed employment, but it is a sharp decline from the numbers in September.

Rounding out the morning news, oil prices are on the rise once again – NYMEX futures have pushed above $80 per barrel after settling around $78.50 for much of yesterday. Though still lower than they were a week ago, any upward momentum in prices will hurt consumers here in the U.S., particularly with winter right around the corner.

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