Marketers have something to (sort of) cheer about for a change. The Standard & Poor 500 is up for the year, breaking a bit more than even for 2009. The S&P 500 jumped up 3.4%, amazingly spurred on by the housing market.
Just two months ago, the S&P 500 fell to 12-year lows due to fears of a recession that was expected to get worse. Monday saw a cheery turn of events for the market as positive outlooks for the housing and financial market led the rally. Pending home sales are shaping up to overtake forecasts and construction spending rose in March.
However, analysts still think that most investors are still cautious of investing. Despite the Monday gain, trading was only moderate – a sign that investors are not still willing to take bold risks. Other sectors are still weak. The baking sector is still shot through bad loans and Monday’s rally is still no indication that the housing market is recovering.
While stocks are up, the economy still is looking at millions of unemployed and the government still has to recoup taxpayer’s money.
S&P saw a 34.1% gain in 39 trading days since the rally began – it’s best since 1933. As for other indexes, the Dow Jones gained more than 200 points, it’s first above the 8,400 mark in nearly three months. The Dow gained 28.7% in 39 trading days as well.
Source: ABC News
Related posts:
Tags: Housing, Standard & Poor, Stocks, Wall Street