US stock markets have their best week since November

March 13, 2009

Wall Street had its best finish since November 2008 after a four day rally with the stock market’s indexes seeing their best weekly gain in nearly five months. The major indicators in the NYSE had a gain of around 10 percent. This was mainly due to bank shares bouncing and alleviating fears about the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) finished on 7223.98, an increase of 54 points from March 12 2009. The S&P 500 Index finished at 756.55 a 6 point gain and the NASDAQ composite had a 5.40 point gain as well to end the day at 1431.50.

The rally began earlier this week after the news from Citigroup Inc. about managing profits during first two months of the year. The news lessened fears about the country's major financial institutions collapsing after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September. There was more good news from Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., who announced that they have had profits in the current year.

Today was a mixed day for the financial sector, Drug makers had some gains and so did General Motors and Berkshire Hathaway, which helped the indexes gain. The value of the US dollar fell against other world currencies, but gold prices increased.