STOCKS rose in early afternoon trading yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US is on track for long-term economic growth.
Bernanke left open the possibility of more action by the Fed if another recession looks likely. But he announced no new economic stimulus measures during his speech at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Indexes fell sharply as the speech was released and it became clear that Bernanke was not promising new stimulus measures. The Dow Jones industrial average was down about 78 points shortly before the speech started and slumped as many as 220 points shortly after Bernanke started speaking. It recovered those losses within an hour. By late morning major market indexes were all trading higher.
Many traders were disappointed that the Fed chairman didn't offer steps to shore up the fragile economic recovery. Optimism had been building on Wall Street this week that Bernanke might announce some kind of action. Bernanke was speaking at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., the same event where he announced plans for a bond-buying program a year ago.
Earlier yesterday, the government said that the nation's economy grew at an annual rate of just 1 percent in the April-June quarter, weaker than previously estimated.
In early-afternoon trading, the Dow rose 150 points, or 1.3 percent, to 11,300. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 18, or 1.5 percent, to 1,177. The Nasdaq composite index rose 54, or 2.2 percent, to 2,473.
The S&P 500 is up 4.8 percent this week, putting the widely used index on track for its first weekly gain after a four-week losing streak. It would also be the biggest gain since the week that ended July 1.
In his speech, the Fed chairman focused on the long-term strengths of the US economy, saying that they "do not appear to have been permanently altered by the shocks of the past four years."
That shot of optimism helped lift markets.
"In the American economy, the only thing that's really lacking right now is confidence," said David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan funds. Kelly said the Fed has few remaining options to help the economy, but action by the central bank might not be necessary.
"People who understand the limits of monetary policy also understand that the economy has what it takes to grow," Kelly said.
Underscoring how fragile the US economic recovery is, early yesterday the government lowered its already weak estimate for how fast the economy grew in the April-June period. That report was another factor pushing stocks lower.
The Commerce Department estimated that the US economy grew at an annual rate of just 1 percent in the second quarter. That's even worse than its previous estimate of 1.3 percent.
The report renewed concerns that the US might be headed for another recession. Nine of the past 11 recessions since World War II have been preceded by a period of growth of 1 percent or less.
The Fed has already pledged to keep short-term interest rates low until mid-2013. Low rates make higher-risk bets such as stocks more attractive. At last year's conference in Jackson Hole Bernanke signaled that the central bank would buy more government bonds to lower long-term interest rates. Stocks rose steadily during the period when the Fed bought up US$600 billion of Treasurys.
Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said Bernanke's speech "was more of an acknowledgement that the Fed is not out of tools and that they stand ready" to act if needed.
The government lowered its estimate for economic growth in the April-June quarter because of fewer exports and weaker growth in business stockpiles. That means the economy expanded only 0.7 percent in the first six months of the year, its worst pace since the recession ended in June 2009.
Source:shanghaidaily