Wall Street jumps on demand for commodities

U.S. stocks improved sharply Tuesday as commodity prices were boosted by a fall in the U.S. dollar.

Oil prices jumped by 4% as the dollar’s recent rally came to an abrupt end.

On the economic front, sentiment was buoyed by a New York Federal Reserve report which said manufacturing in the state rose.

“The market is looking for evidence of economic growth now that earnings are just about over,” Giri Cherukuri, head trader at OakBrook Investments LLC, in Lisle, Illinois told Reuters Thomson.

Stocks rose throughout the day, with the rally extending sharply in the final hour of trading. At the close Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrials were up 169.67 points or 1.68% at 10,268.81.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 30.66 points or 1.40% at 2,214.19.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 was up 19.36 points or 1.80% at 1,094.87.

The euro rebounded sharply to trade at 1.3768 around the New York close Tuesday.

The British pound advanced to 1.5788 while the Swiss franc climbed to 1.0659.

The Australian and Canadian dollars moved substantially higher to .9014 and 1.0434 respectively.

The Japanese yen dipped to 90.14.

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 Articles

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