After Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took the wind out of investors’ sails on Wednesday with his gloomy predictions of slow economic improvement, Thursday brought in some good news that lifted spirits and the Dow.
Among the good news was United Parcel Service Inc.’s (NYSE:UPS) announcement that they had nearly doubled their quarterly revenues and 3M Co.’s (NYSE:MMM) announcement of a more than 17% revenue increase. In even more good news, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report today that showed home sales had slowed less than analysts anticipated.
As a result of the good news the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 198.74 points to close at 10,319.27 while the Nasdaq gained 58.2 points and closed at 2,245.53. The S&P 500 closed at 23.74 gaining 1,093.33 points.
Another company posting increased revenues was Janus Capital Group Inc (NYSE:JNS) whose quarter two revenue was more than $49m higher than the previous year’s. They also showed increased earnings per share which caused the company’s stock price to rise from a closing price of $9.47 on July 21st to $10.56 on July 22nd.
European markets were up on Thursday while Asian markets were still mixed.
