Last week was eventful for the U.S. stock markets with the U.S. Federal Reserve announcing yet another Quantitative Easing program, the third in the series, which Wall Street calls QE3. Fed chief Ben Bernanke vowed the investors by continuing the QE, this time deciding to buy up to $40 million of mortgage backed securities every month till the labor market revives.
The announcement had U.S. equities climbing to multi-year high levels with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 recording multi-year highs.
Here are some of the market movers on Friday, a day after the Fed announcement.
Energy stocks were some of the biggest gainers on hopes that the U.S. economy was now on the road to recovery due to the Fed backed stimulus. Chevron (CVX) stocks closed up 0.59 percent on Friday. Shares in Exxon Mobil (XOM) reached a four year high closing up 1.17 percent.
Another sector boosted by the stimulus was the materials sector, as commodities prices rose as a result of the Fed monetary infusion. Shares in the world’s leading aluminum producer, Alcoa Inc. (AA) closed up 2.18 percent. Shares in heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc.(CAT) rose 2.75 percent on Friday.
Housing stocks were also at the forefront as the monetary infusion in the housing sector buoyed investor confidence. Shares in PulteGroup (PHM ), a home construction company closed up 3.12 percent on Friday while luxury homebuilder, Toll Brothers (TOL) shares gained 2.31 percent at close. Critical housing data like the U.S. existing home sales and U.S. housing starts which is to be released next week would further show some direction for housing stocks.
Financial institutions, which were the worst hit in the economic downturn also showed some positive signs. Share in Bank of America (BAC) closed up 1.60 percent on Friday. JP Morgan (JPM) shares closed up 0.41 percent and shares in Citigroup (C) gained 0.99 percent by the close on Friday.
Finally, tech stocks continued their winning streak with shares in Apple Inc. (AAPL) reaching an all time high intra-day increasing 1.2 percent to close, after Apple released the latest version of the iPhone on Wednesday. Pre-orders of the iPhone exhausted the inventory in an hour after the pre-orders began. Another tech giant, Amazon Inc. (AMZN), which recently announced its new line of tablets, also touched an all time high gaining 0.40 percent on Friday.
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