Wall Street gains on Bernanke remarks

New York equities markets closed higher Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that he is willing to cut interest rates again to avoid a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.92 percent higher to 12,853.09 while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.56 percent to 2,448.52 and the S&P 500 gained 1,420.33. Some banks and mortgage lenders were higher on rumors of a purchase of an ailing mortgage lender, but others in the financial services sector were down on losses related effects from the subprime crisis. Airlines were up on consolidation rumors.

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower on Thursday on further concerns about US credit markets. The main exception to losses was the Shanghai Composite, which added 0.38 percent to 5,456.54. Australian indices saw the least of the losses as the S&P/ASX200 fell 0.15 percent to 6,078.7 and the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.2 percent to 6,147.3. Taiwan’s Taiex was down 0.34 percent to 8,057.27. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi index fell 1.07 percent to 1,824.78. India’s Sensex dropped 1.38 percent, nearly 300 points, to 20,582.08 while the Hang Seng index was 1.39 percent lower to 27,230.86, for a decline of nearly 400 points on the session.

The FTSE Straits Times Index, which began operation today with a slightly different configuration than the former Straits Times Index, was 1 percent lower to 3,311.07. Even though the new version of the index includes 30 rather than 47 components, which were chosen according to the percentage of shares available to the public and trade volumes, it started the day with the valuation of the old index at the end of Wednesday’s session.

Tokyo’s markets were also lower on the session on predictions for recession not only in the United States but in the Japanese economy as well, with chances for a recession in Japan put at 50 percent. The Nikkei 225 was down 1.45 percent to 14,388.11, a decline of over 200 points on the session. The Topix index fell 1.61 percent to 1,401.36 while the Mothers market dropped 0.66 percent to 746.29. The semiconductors sector saw gains, but the real estate sector and banks were lower on the session.

European markets were also lower on the session, with the pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 falling 0.79 percent to 1,437.68. In Madrid the IBEX was 0.38 percent lower to 14,548.4 while the Paris CAC-40 was down 0.64 percent to 5,400.43 and the Dax dropped 0.89 percent to 7,713.09. Automobile manufacturers saw gains, as did construction groups and some retailers. Utilities were also ahead on the day. Industrial gases groups and the steel sector declined.

In London, the FTSE 100 was 0.8 percent lower to 6,222,7 while the FTSE 250 dropped 163 points, or 1.64 percent to 1,437.68. Food and do-it-yourself retailers were up, as were some manufacturers and gold miners. The oil sector was mixed. Food processors, pubs operators and some in the banking sector were down on the day.

Story link: Wall Street gains on Bernanke remarks