stock markets

Stocks fell Thursday following rising concerns about the banking situation in Cyprus developing into bankruptcy as well as unexpected news that Oracle’s sales declined in its fiscal third quarter.

Stocks traded steadily higher for most of the day Wednesday and spiked after the Federal Reserve said it will continue with aggressive measures to boost the economy. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that Cyprus crisis posed no major risk to the U.S. economy.

Wall Street held its own Tuesday after a “no” vote on Cyprus’ tax plan. Investors were focused on Cyprus, where the Mediterranean country’s lawmakers voted against a proposed bailout plan for banks that would have called for raiding the savings accounts of ordinary citizens, setting a new precedent in Europe’s ongoing debt crisis.

Stocks closed lower Monday following a weekend agreement between Cyprus and its European partners called for the government to raid bank accounts as part of a €15.8 billion ($20.4 billion) financial bailout, the first time in the euro zone crisis that the prospect of seizing individuals’ savings has been raised.

Encouraging news on jobs gave the market an early lift on Thursday, and by the end of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average posted its 10th straight day of gains. The last time the Dow knocked out 10 straight days of gains was November 1996.

Stocks climbed again on Wednesday. Demand for stocks has been propelled this year by optimism that the housing market is recovering and that companies have started to hire. Strong company earnings and ongoing stimulus from the Federal Reserve are also helping make stocks more attractive.

A tiny gain gave the Dow its eighth straight increase Tuesday, long enough to match its longest series of gains since February 2011. Stocks have surged this year as investors became encouraged by a recovery in the housing market and a pickup in hiring. Strong corporate earnings and continuing economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve are also supporting demand for stocks.

Stocks crept up Monday, with the Dow rising for the seventh day in a row. The last time the Dow rose for seven consecutive days was March 2012.

Stocks gained Friday, the sixth day in a row, on news of strong jobs growth. Employers added 236,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7% from 7.9% in January, the Labor Department reported. That’s far better than the expected 156,000 job gains and unemployment rate of 7.8%.

Stocks started higher Thursday after the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell by 7,000 last week, driving the four-week average to its lowest in five years. The drop is a positive sign ahead of Friday’s employment report.

Stocks edged up Wednesday following the Dow’s record-setting performance on Tuesday. The question now is, how much longer can it keep climbing? In the past, stock indexes have often drifted lower in the months after breaking through previous record highs.

The new record suggests that investors who did not panic and sell their stocks in the 2008-2009 financial crisis have fully recovered. Those who have reinvested dividends or added to their holdings have done even better. Since bottoming at 6,547.05 on March 9, 2009, the Dow has risen 7,706.72 points or 118 percent.

Stocks dropped at the opening bell and stayed lower most of the morning amid concern that new steps introduced by the Chinese government to cool the booming housing market in the world’s second-largest economy. But they rallied by the end of the day.

Stocks were down in early trading but recovered following news that U.S. manufacturing expanded in February at the fastest pace since June 2011. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index reached 54.2, up from January’s reading of 53.1. Any reading above 50 signals growth.

Stocks climbed Thursday, then sputtered and dropped. Economic data and company reports reflected an economy beating investors’ low expectations, rather than one growing like gangbusters. Impending government budget cuts also cast a pall for some investors.

The market surged Wednesday following more evidence that the Fed will keep interest rates low, housing will keep recovering and shoppers aren’t pulling back on spending, even with a payroll tax hike. The gains were broad: Twenty-nine of 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average rose. All 10 industries in the Standard and Poor’s 500 index climbed.

Stocks rose Tuesday, helped by strong earnings from home improvement companies, such as Home Depot and Lowe’s, which reported earnings Monday that beat Wall Street forecasts, compounded evidence that the U.S. housing market is maintaining its recovery.

Stocks had rallied in the early going Monday as exit polls showed that a center-left coalition in Italy that favored economic reforms in the euro region’s third-largest economy was leading. That gain evaporated after a later poll predicted that the elections could result in a stalemate in the country’s legislature. The losses accelerate in the late afternoon as partial official results showed an upstart protest campaign led by a comedian making stunning inroads.

Stocks bounced back from this week’s two-day slide to post gains on Friday. Spooked investors sent stocks plunging Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting revealed disagreement over how long to keep buying bonds in an effort to boost the economy. The slide continued Thursday.

Stocks kept sliding Thursday on news that the U.S. labor market remains in slow recovery mode. The government said more people applied for unemployment benefits last week. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to the highest in six weeks.

The stock market posted its biggest loss this year on news that Federal Reserve officials suggested the central bank scale back its effort to keep borrowing costs low. Judging by the market’s reaction, the Fed appears to be closer to ending its support for the economy than traders had expected, said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at the brokerage BTIG. “We’re at a point now where we’re discussing how we’re going to end this, not whether it’s going to end,” he said.

Reports that retailers Office Depot and OfficeMax are discussing a merger came after big corporate deals for Heinz and Dell were announced in recent weeks. Some investors are betting that more deals could be on the way as buyers pay premium prices for publicly traded companies.

Investors piled into stocks at the beginning of the year after lawmakers reached a last-minute deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of sweeping tax hikes and spending cuts. The gains continued as investors were encouraged by signs that the housing and jobs markets are recovering. Company earnings have also held up well. There are signs, however, that the rally is running out of steam.

The stock market wavered Thursday as a reaction to a slowing European economy.  Germany’s economy shrank more than expected late last year, and the slowdown in Europe’s largest economy deepened the region’s ongoing recession.

McDonald’s was the biggest decliner in the Dow on Wednesday, losing $1.10 to $94, as investors worried that Americans will spend less on eating out following a rise in Social Security taxes at the beginning of the year. The government reported early Wednesday that spending by Americans barely grew last month.

In a quiet day of trade, stocks were driven higher by beauty products maker Avon and luxury clothing and accessories company Michael Kors, whose results impressed investors. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity in the U.S.

Stocks headed lower Monday. One that didn’t was that of Apple, which gained following reports over the weekend that the tech giant is developing a wristwatch-like gadget, a smart watch.

Trading volume was light as Friday Wall Street braced for what is forecast to be the largest winter storm in more than a year. Up to 2 feet of snow forecast along the densely populated Interstate 95 corridor from the New York City area to Boston and beyond.

Stocks fell Thursday as weaker earnings and worries about Europe overshadowed healthier signs for the U.S. economy.

Stocks closed mostly flat on Wednesday as the latest round of earnings reports failed to give investors an impetus to push the market’s recent rally forward. Stocks are consolidating their gains after surging since the start of the year. The Dow closed above 14,000 for the first time since December 2007 Friday and had its best January in almost two decades.

Stock markets advanced Tuesday, driven by new data showing that U.S. home prices rose in December at the fastest pace in more than six years. CoreLogic, a real estate data provider, reported that home prices rose 8.3%. In Europe, a measure of manufacturing and service businesses rose to a 10-month high January.

The drop, which erased 129 points from the Dow Jones industrial average, came on the first trading day after the index closed above 14,000 for the first time since the financial crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average, a stock market index that is traditionally considered a benchmark for how the entire market is faring, had been rising fairly steadily for about a month. On Friday, strong auto sales and optimism about U.S. job growth pushed it over the 14,000 mark for the first time since October 2007. The Dow is now just 155 points away from its record close.

Stocks got a small lift early Thursday from a report on business activity in the Chicago area before drifting lower. The Chicago Business Barometer for January came in at 55.6, a higher reading than analysts had forecast. Readings above 50 indicate that economic activity is expanding.

Stocks started the day lower after a report showed that the U.S. economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter. That decline extended after the Federal Reserve said that it would continue its bond-buying program to boost growth.

Encouraging news about manufacturing provided an early boost to stocks on Monday, but stocks fell later after a report on the pace of home sales fell short of expectations.

Strong earnings from Procter & Gamble and Starbucks helped drive stocks up Friday. Stocks have surged this month, with the S&P 500 advancing 5.4 percent. It jumped at the start of the year when lawmakers reached a last-minute deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff.” Stocks built on those gains on optimism that the housing market is recovering and the labor market is healing. The Dow Jones is up 5.5 percent on the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for a fifth day Thursday, helped by a round of economic data including jobless claims, while Apple Inc.’s worst day in four years sank the Nasdaq Composite.

Google and IBM reported surprisingly solid fourth-quarter earnings late Tuesday, a hopeful sign for investors who expected tech companies to struggle at the end of last year.

Earnings have been strong enough this season to drive a five-day winning streak for the S&P 500 and put the Dow on track for its biggest monthly percentage gain since October 2011. Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago, said traders have been encouraged by the number of companies beating analysts’ profit expectations.