Wall Street ended higher after an extremely volatile session yesterday as
the US Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged boosted the
market's confidence in US economy.
The Dow Jones climbed 141 points yesterday, paring part of the huge loss of
504 points on Monday, the biggest drop since the Sept.11 terrorist attacks in
2001.
Investors were closely watching the Federal Reserve's move on the interest
rates and the decision of leaving them steady eased investors' fears of a
deteriorating financial condition.
However, financials still faced enormous pressure. The New York Fed is
reported to hold meetings on possible solution to troubled largest insurer AIG,
which tumbled another 56 percent in early trading as its credit rating was
downgraded by S&P and Moody's when struggling to raise capital.
Moreover, the earnings result from Goldman Sachs failed to boost the market
sentiment. Goldman Sachs posted that the third-quarter profit fell a record 70
percent, the sharpest drop since it went public nine years ago. Goldman Sachs
and Morgan Stanley dropped 5 percent and 16 percent, separately.
The market did not respond with much enthusiasm after the New York Federal
Reserve announced that it would inject US$50 billion into the banking system and
stands ready to add more if needed.
Oil plummeted 10 dollars in two sessions, which weighed on energy stocks but
sent airlines and automakers higher. Light, sweet crude dropped US$4.56 to
settle at US$91.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Dow Jones gained 141.51 to 11,059.02. Broader indexes also ended higher.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 20.90 to 1,213.60 and the Nasdaq rose
27.99 to 2,207.90.