U.S. stocks
rose for a second day, led by chipmakers and automobile companies, and
Treasuries fell as the Federal Reserve said the economy maintained a
“modest to moderate” pace of growth. Shares in the Middle East sank as the U.S.
moved closer to a military strike against Syria.
The Standard
& Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) increased 0.8 percent to 1,653.08 at 4 p.m. in New
York. Benchmark gauges in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai lost more
than 2 percent. The S&P GSCI (SPGSCI) gauge of 24 commodities dropped 0.7
percent as metals led losses. Ten-year Treasury yields increased four basis
points to 2.90 percent, while the Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index retreated for the
first time in six days. The Australian dollar rose against 15 of 16 major peers
after the economy accelerated.
Micron
Technology Inc. paced a rally in chipmakers as a fire forced a Korean
competitor to suspend operations at a factory in China, while General Motors
Co. and Ford Motor Co. climbed after monthly U.S. sales growth exceeded
estimates. The Fed’s Beige Book survey showed consumers spent more on travel
and tourism while manufacturing expanded, as investors searched for clues to
the central bank’s plans for stimulus. Stocks maintained gains as a Senate
panel authorized a limited military strike in Syria.
“Managers
actually are fairly bullish on the environment,” Arvin Soh, a New York-based
fund manager with GAM, said by phone. His firm has more than $120 billion under
management. “The view has been, ‘yes we have some serious issue with Syria, but
at the end of the day, growth is improving.’”
Things like this will not going to help the economy
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