US stocks rise sharply on Fed relief
Friday, 19 June 2015
US stocks notched their biggest gains in a week Thursday, pushing the Nasdaq composite index to an all-time high. The rally came a day after the Federal Reserve suggested that it wasn't planning to raise interest rates right away. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 180.10 points, or 1 per cent, to 18,115.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 20.80 points, or 1 per cent, to 2,121.24. The Nasdaq added 68.07 points, or 1.3 per cent, closing at 5,132.95, surpassing the most recent high for the index of 5,106.59 set May 27. Most major US stock indexes are up for the year, but the Nasdaq is turning in the best performance. It's up 8.4 per cent, compared with a gain of 3 per cent for the S&P 500 index and 1.6 per cent for the Dow. The dollar weakened. The US currency dropped to 122.83 yen from 123.58 yen on Wednesday. The euro strengthened slightly to $1.1404 from $1.1354. The price of oil rose Thursday as the dollar weakened. Benchmark US crude rose 53 cents to close at $60.45 a barrel in New York. Brent crude rose 39 cents to close at $64.26 in London. In metals trading, gold rose $25.20 to $1,202 an ounce. Silver climbed 21 cents to $16.15 an ounce. Copper was little changed at $2.60 a pound. Wholesale gasoline rose 1 cent to close at $2.111 a gallon. Heating oil rose 0.5 cent to close at $1.915 a gallon. Natural gas fell 7.8 cents to close at $2.777 per 1,000 cubic feet, according to AP.