Wall St jumps after Fed's Halloween treat and data
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday, buoyed by both the Federal Reserve's interest-rate cut and its view that credit market strains have eased somewhat and by reports showing surprising strength in economic growth and employment.
A surge in gold and oil prices lifted shares of miners and energy companies, while the Nasdaq rose to its highest in nearly seven years on the strength of technology stocks like Google Inc.(GOOG.O). The Web search engine's shares topped the $700 mark for the first time after reports it may soon break into the phone market.
Stocks initially declined, then rose after the Fed lowered its benchmark lending rate by a 1/4 percentage point to 4.50 percent, as expected. Even though the central bank signaled more rate cuts are no sure thing, investors warmed to the view that the economy for now was still on a growth track.
"I think the bottom line is the economy is relatively strong," and the data on gross domestic product supports that view, said Giri Cherukuri, head trader at OakBrook Investments LLC, in Lisle, Illinois.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI shot up 137.54 points, or 1.00 percent, to end at 13,930.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX climbed 18.36 points, or 1.20 percent, to 1,549.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC surged 42.41 points, or 1.51 percent, to 2,859.12. Earlier, the Nasdaq reached an intraday high at 2,861.51 -- its highest in almost seven years.
"It looks like this might be the last rate cut for a while, which isn't good for stocks. But on the other hand, if the economy is going well, that means corporate profits should do well," Cherukuri said.
For the month of October, the Nasdaq rose 5.8 percent, its best monthly percentage gain in about two years. The S&P 500 advanced 1.5 percent for the month, while the Dow edged up 0.3 percent in October.
During Wednesday's session, Google's stock jumped 1.8 percent to close at $707.00 -- a lifetime high -- on the Nasdaq.
Ahead of the Fed's decision, government data showed the economy expanded in the third quarter at its fastest rate since the beginning of 2006, while another report showed private employers added workers this month at the greatest rate since June.
Rate-sensitive shares of financial companies at first fell after the Fed news, but ended higher, with the S&P financial index .GSPF up 0.8 percent. Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N) rose 1 percent to $47 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Energy stocks climbed after weekly government data showed a surprising decline in crude inventories, sending U.S. crude futures up $4.15, or 4.6 percent, to settle at a record $94.53 a barrel. During the session, oil hit a NYMEX lifetime record at $94.74. December gold was up $7.50, or 1 percent, at $795.30 an ounce, after earlier touched $800.80 an ounce.
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM.N) shares rose 9.5 percent to $50.86. Shares of ConocoPhillips (COP.N) gained 2.7 percent to $84.96 and Chevron (CVX.N) stock added 1.6 percent to $91.51.
Trading was below average on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 1.57 billion shares changing hands, below last year's estimated daily average of 1.84 billion. On Nasdaq, about 2.57 billion shares traded, ahead of last year's daily average of 2.02 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of about 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by 2 to 1 on Nasdaq.
