NEW YORK—After reaching a bottom in March, the U.S. stock market has made quite a rebound in recent months, and closed on a new 2009 high last week prior to the Christmas holiday.
Now, this week investors are clamoring for a continued rally, attempting to send the stock market to its first annual advance in two years.
The markets will close on Thursday this week in observance of New Year’s Day, which is on Friday.
Last year, the stock market plummeted as a housing industry-led recession hit the global financial industry, requiring the U.S. federal government to bail out a host of private companies in the financial and automotive sector.
But since the market hit bottom in March, the S&P 500 has rebounded more than 65 percent, helped by the recent uplifting reports in real estate sales and jobless claims figures. Last year, the S&P was down almost 40 percent.
“The market is telling us that the economy is a lot stronger than people are giving it credit,” said Cleveland Rueckert, a market analyst at Birinyi Associates, in an interview with Reuters. “In our view, the market is going to go higher.”
This week, investors expect trading to be light as most traders will be away on holiday. But some analysts suggest that due to the light volume, any surprisingly negative or positive news could propel the market to react in an exaggerated manner.
On Tuesday, the Conference Board will release its survey of consumer confidence on the U.S. economy, and on Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its weekly jobless claims data. Last week, a drop in weekly jobless claims propelled the stock market to reach new 2009 highs on Thursday.
When reporting on the 2009 fourth quarter corporate earnings season beginning in late January, analysts and investors will be keeping a closer eye on how well corporations are faring compared to last year’s fourth quarter, when the corporate sector was stifled by a frozen credit markets.
Consumer and business spending will likely drive company performance in the fourth quarter of this year.
Now, this week investors are clamoring for a continued rally, attempting to send the stock market to its first annual advance in two years.
The markets will close on Thursday this week in observance of New Year’s Day, which is on Friday.
Last year, the stock market plummeted as a housing industry-led recession hit the global financial industry, requiring the U.S. federal government to bail out a host of private companies in the financial and automotive sector.
But since the market hit bottom in March, the S&P 500 has rebounded more than 65 percent, helped by the recent uplifting reports in real estate sales and jobless claims figures. Last year, the S&P was down almost 40 percent.
“The market is telling us that the economy is a lot stronger than people are giving it credit,” said Cleveland Rueckert, a market analyst at Birinyi Associates, in an interview with Reuters. “In our view, the market is going to go higher.”
This week, investors expect trading to be light as most traders will be away on holiday. But some analysts suggest that due to the light volume, any surprisingly negative or positive news could propel the market to react in an exaggerated manner.
On Tuesday, the Conference Board will release its survey of consumer confidence on the U.S. economy, and on Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its weekly jobless claims data. Last week, a drop in weekly jobless claims propelled the stock market to reach new 2009 highs on Thursday.
When reporting on the 2009 fourth quarter corporate earnings season beginning in late January, analysts and investors will be keeping a closer eye on how well corporations are faring compared to last year’s fourth quarter, when the corporate sector was stifled by a frozen credit markets.
Consumer and business spending will likely drive company performance in the fourth quarter of this year.
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