Major US stock indices rose as investors anticipated good news on the US economy later in the week and overcame fears about European debt.
|||Major US stock indices rose Tuesday as investors anticipated good news on the US economy later in the week and overcame fears about European debt.
Traders expect the US jobless rate to continue to fall when monthly figures are released Friday, but trading volume was light Tuesday as many investors wait for more concrete news.
The optimism was able to overcome concerns about Portugal's economy after the rating agency Standard & Poor's earlier Tuesday downgraded Lisbon's sovereign credit rating, increasing its financial woes and piling pressure on the government to seek a bailout.
The Bank of Portugal on Tuesday issued a gloomy 2011 forecast, saying the economy would shrink 1.4 per cent.
A decrease in a key measure of US consumer confidence was also not enough to keep markets down.
The New York-based Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence fell to 63.4 this month, its lowest level in three months, from a three-year high of 72 in February, as consumers worried about short-term economic prospects and job growth.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 81.13 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 12,279.01. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 Index rose 9.25 points, or 0.71 per cent, to 1,319.44. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 26.21 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 2,756.89.
The US currency was off against the euro to 70.89 euro cents from 70.97 euro cents on Monday. The dollar edged up against the Japanese currency to 82.46 yen from 81.71 yen. - Sapa-dpa
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/us-stocks-rise-ahead-of-jobless-1.1049381
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