Stocks Rally on Dollar's Strength

Bernanke comments spark inflation worries, perk up dollar

(NEWSER) - The markets ended mixed after moving between gains and losses, as traders tracked gyrations in the price of oil—which finished down 2% from earlier highs of $137 a barrel, MarketWatch reports. The Dow gained 9.44 to end at 12,289.76. The Nasdaq lost 10.52 to settle at 2,448.94, and the S&P 500 lost 3.32, closing at 1,358.44. More»

Jobs rally undercut by, dollar boom, sinking commodities

(NEWSER) - Stocks posted modest gains today after a morning rally off an unexpectedly strong jobs report. The surge lost steam when a rise in the dollar sapped commodity stocks, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• The Dow rose 22.75 points to close at 10,388.90.
• The Nasdaq added 21.21, settling at 2,194.35.
• The S&P 500 gained 6.06, closing at 1,105.98.

GE, financials gain; Fed shows industrial activity up for August

(NEWSER) - Stocks rallied today, with all three major indices hitting their highest levels of the year, the Wall Street Journal reports. GE surged 5.69%, AmEx 3.06%, and BofA 2.80% on good data: Industrial production gained 0.8% in August, and the Labor Department’s consumer-price index rose 0.4%. The Dow closed up 108 points at 9,791, Nasdaq added 30 points to 2,133, and the S&P 500 rose 16 points to 1,069. More»

Energy firms rise as oil adds $3.08

(NEWSER) - Stocks posted solid gains today as commodity prices rose, the Wall Street Journal reports. Oil jumped $3.08 to $71.28 a barrel and gold crossed the $1,000-an-ounce mark. Commodity-producing stocks Exxon, Chevron, and Alcoa all saw gains as a result. The Dow added 56 points to close at 9,497. The Nasdaq gained 19 points, settling at 2,038, and the S&P 500 rose 9 points to close at 1,025. More»

(NEWSER) - Markets were mixed today, but the Dow closed at its highest end point in 2009 even as tech and material stocks pulled down other indices, the Wall Street Journal reports. The resurgent dollar cut deeply into the commodities sector. A NYSE computer malfunction also temporarily halted trading in some stocks. “Computers break,” one trader said. “But then they replace them.” The Dow was up 28.34 to 8,799.26, the S&P up 1.32 to 946.21, and the Nasdaq down 3.57 to 1,858.80. More»