Wall Street moved back and forth Tuesday, after a two-day rally, as investors digested dismal economic data and the Federal Reserve committed as much as US$800 billion to boost lending.
The Fed said Tuesday it will buy up to US$600 billion in mortgage-backed assets. The Fed also unveiled a new program on consumer debt, which will lend up to US$200 billion to the holders of securities backed by consumer loans such as credit cards, auto loans and student loans.
The Fed's new plan overshadowed the decline of GDP in the third quarter. The U.S. Commerce Department said the gross domestic product declined at a 0.5 percent annual rate, worse than the estimated 0.3 percent decrease.
Moreover, the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 17.4 percent in September, the biggest decline on record and worse than forecast. Meanwhile, the U.S. Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index unexpectedly rose to 44.9 in November, up from a revised 38.8 in the previous month. But the reading still stayed at a low level.
The Dow Jones rose 26.52 to 8,469.91. Broader indexes moved mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 2.45 to 854.26; and the Nasdaq dipped 13.62 to 1,458.40.
(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2008)
