INSTANT VIEW: Obama names economic team
NEW YORK (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama on Monday named the team of officials who will steer his administration's economic policy, including the nomination of New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner to be his U.S. Treasury Department secretary.
KEY POINTS: * Lawrence Summers was appointed Obama's director of the National Economic Council. * Christina Romer was named to head the White House Council of Economic Advisers. * The names had all been leaked ahead of his press conference. * Obama offered little by way of new details regarding his plans to combat the slumping U.S. economy.
COMMENTS:
STEVEN BUTLER, DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING, SCOTIA
CAPITAL, TORONTO:
"U.S. stocks pared gains a little bit and we're seeing the euro come off. People had bought stocks and euro/dollar in the run-up to Obama's speech, but there are no real surprises to his economic team. The names have all been leaked last week. So investors have started to take some profits off."
LOU BRIEN, MARKET STRATEGIST, DRW TRADING GROUP, CHICAGO:
"He wants to see stimulus enacted "right away" but does not mention any specifics or numbers."
"I don't know if the stock market was expecting solid numbers or solid plans."
MARKET REACTION: STOCKS: U.S. equity indexes remain higher, but drop from session high reached just before Obama's address began. BONDS: Treasury debt prices edge up from session low. DOLLAR: U.S. dollar pare losses against the euro.
