Dow Up 56 on Bernanke, Retail

Manufacturing, home starts news send markets way down

(NEWSER) - The Dow plunged 306.95 points to 12.159.21 today, its third straight sell-off and worst loss of the new year, as rough numbers put investors in a bearish mood. The key index has now fallen more than 1,000 points since 2008 began. Merrill Lynch posted a huge quarterly loss, manufacturing slowed, and housing starts came in at their lowest level since 1991. More»

S&P 500, Nasdaq also rise

(NEWSER) - Markets are up, at least for now: The Dow was up more than 100 points at open, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq following suit, up about 11 and 13 points, respectively, MarketWatch reports. An upbeat report on retail sales no doubt prodded stocks upward: July sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5%, their biggest gain in four months. Currently the Dow is hovering in the 11,200 range. More»

Mastercard reports better-than-expected holiday sales

(NEWSER) - Stocks faltered but managed to reclaim most of the day's gains in the final hour of today's session. The day saw light trading volume and news of a bump in retail sales from MasterCard's SpendingPulse unit, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• The Dow gained 26.98 points to close at 10,547.08.
• The Nasdaq added 5.39, closing at 2,291.08.
• The S&P 500 rose 1.30 to settle at 1,127.78.

Retail sales beat expectations in November

(NEWSER) - Stocks ended today's session mixed, with the Dow posting solid gains. Alcoa saw a. 8% jump on an optimistic profit estimate by JPMorgan, and the University of Michigan/Reuters December consumer sentiment index beat expectations, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• The Dow rose 65.67 points to close at 10,471.50.
• The Nasdaq fell 0.55, settling at 2,190.51.
• The S&P 500 gained 4.06, closing at 1,106.41.

Bernanke predicts US GDP growth in 2010

(NEWSER) - Stocks rallied today on news of strong third-quarter economic growth in Japan and reassurance from Ben Bernanke that the Fed will keep interest rates low, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• The Dow rose 136.49 points to close at 10,406,96.
• The Nasdaq gained 29.97, settling at 2,197.85.
• The S&P 500 added 15.82 to close at 1,109.30.