US stocks rebound as Street shrugs off shutdown

PTI Updated - March 12, 2018 at 04:16 PM.

US stocks have rebounded with solid gains despite a budget deadlock that kept the Government partially shut down for the fourth day in a row.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 76.10 points (0.51 per cent) to 15,072.58 yesterday. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 11.84 points (0.71 per cent) to 1,690.50, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite added 33.41 points (0.89 per cent) to 3,807.75.

“Equities climbed throughout the session while showing little concern over the lack of progress in the Capitol Hill stalemate,” Briefing.com analysts said in a market note.

“While the end result of the shutdown remains unclear, today’s end result for equities was crystal clear. The major averages settled near their highs as all 10 sectors registered gains.”

On Thursday, the Dow closed below the 15,000 mark for the first time in a month as the budget battle between Democrats and Republicans appeared increasingly likely to roll into a face-off over raising the debt ceiling by the October 17 deadline.

Wall Street stocks

Social media companies were adding buzz to Wall Street. Micro-messaging service Twitter revealed a much-awaited initial public offering plan after the markets closed on Thursday. The IPO was expected to be the most sought-after since Facebook’s market debut in May 2012.

Facebook jumped 3.9 per cent after announcing that it will start selling advertising on its Instagram photo and video-sharing social network, which competes with Twitter’s Vine service.

Sandwich shop chain Potbelly found hungry investors for its initial public offering. Shares skyrocketed to $ 30.77, more than double the IPO price of $14.

Union Pacific, operator of the largest railroad network in the US, fell almost 1.0 per cent after updating its third-quarter earnings forecast, below analyst estimates, and announcing that it expected flat volumes in the quarter year-over-year.

Electric car maker Tesla gained 4.4 per cent, regaining half of the loss from the previous two days after an Internet video of a fire on one of its vehicles went viral.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.65 per cent from 2.61 per cent late Thursday, while the 30-year yield edged up to 3.73 per cent from 3.71 per cent. Prices and yields move inversely.

Published on October 5, 2013 05:55