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U.S. stocks stage comeback as security fears subside
New York, Mar 13: U.S. stocks staged a robust recovery on Friday from four days of heavy losses as investors put aside security fears triggered by the attacks in Madrid and bought heavyweight technology stocks.
New York, Mar 13: U.S. stocks staged a robust recovery on Friday from four days of heavy losses as investors put aside security fears triggered by the attacks in Madrid and bought heavyweight technology stocks.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 2 percent, but all the major stock indexes suffered the biggest weekly declines since September.
"Now we're seeing some buying, some short covering. The Nasdaq is acting better than the Dow because it had more of a sell-off than the other indexes," Todd Leone, head of listed trading, S.G. Cowen, said.
Investors bought technology stocks, including International Business Machines Corp. and Dell Inc.
For the week the Nasdaq lost 3.07 percent, the Dow ended down 3.35 percent and the S&P 500 ended off 3.14 percent.
The Dow industrials closed up 111.70 points, or 1.10 percent, at 10,240.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended up 13.79 points, or 1.25 percent, at 1,120.57, while the Nasdaq Composite finished up 40.84 points, or 2.10 percent, at 1,984.73.
The demand for stocks outweighed concerns generated by the deadly attacks in Madrid on Thursday, which killed about 200 and wounded 1,430. Fears of more violence, including talk of an attack on the United States, set off a triple-digit fall in the Dow in the previous session.
On Friday, Basque separatist group ETA denied responsibility for the bombings. That revived some fears that the violence was linked to Osama bin Laden's militant Islamist group al Qaeda, but the market held onto its gains.
"The experts have said that you shouldn't listen to whoever is claiming responsibility or not claiming responsibility," Philip Dow, director of equity strategy at RBC Dain Rauscher, said. "The bottom line is, is that it's a horrific event."
Improved outlooks for earnings and brokerage upgrades contributed to Friday's gains.
Dell finished the session at $33.05, up $1.06, after J.P. Morgan raised its rating on the second-largest supplier of personal computers to "overweight" from "neutral".
Bureau Report
"Now we're seeing some buying, some short covering. The Nasdaq is acting better than the Dow because it had more of a sell-off than the other indexes," Todd Leone, head of listed trading, S.G. Cowen, said.
Investors bought technology stocks, including International Business Machines Corp. and Dell Inc.
For the week the Nasdaq lost 3.07 percent, the Dow ended down 3.35 percent and the S&P 500 ended off 3.14 percent.
The Dow industrials closed up 111.70 points, or 1.10 percent, at 10,240.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended up 13.79 points, or 1.25 percent, at 1,120.57, while the Nasdaq Composite finished up 40.84 points, or 2.10 percent, at 1,984.73.
The demand for stocks outweighed concerns generated by the deadly attacks in Madrid on Thursday, which killed about 200 and wounded 1,430. Fears of more violence, including talk of an attack on the United States, set off a triple-digit fall in the Dow in the previous session.
On Friday, Basque separatist group ETA denied responsibility for the bombings. That revived some fears that the violence was linked to Osama bin Laden's militant Islamist group al Qaeda, but the market held onto its gains.
"The experts have said that you shouldn't listen to whoever is claiming responsibility or not claiming responsibility," Philip Dow, director of equity strategy at RBC Dain Rauscher, said. "The bottom line is, is that it's a horrific event."
Improved outlooks for earnings and brokerage upgrades contributed to Friday's gains.
Dell finished the session at $33.05, up $1.06, after J.P. Morgan raised its rating on the second-largest supplier of personal computers to "overweight" from "neutral".
Bureau Report