U.S. Stocks Surge Amid Retail Sales Report; Global Markets Follow Suit

The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all saw gains, boosted by positive retail sales data for February. Gold, brokerage and oil stocks led the rally as traders await the Federal Reserve's policy update.

The Dow jumped 353.44 points (0.9%) to 41,841.63, the S&P 500 climbed 36.18 points (0.6%) to 5,675.12 and the Nasdaq rose 54.58 points (0.3%) to 17,808.66.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to the Commerce Department's report on U.S. retail sales in the month of February. The Commerce Department said retail sales rose by 0.2% in February after tumbling by a revised 1.2% in January. While the uptick by retail sales missed expectations for an increase of 0.7%, traders seem relieved that the data wasn't even worse. However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

Gold stocks strongly moved upwards, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.7% to a nearly five-month closing high. Brokerage stocks were significantly strong , as reflected by the 2.5% jump by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. Oil producer stocks performed well amid an increase by the price of crude oil, with the NYSE Arca Oil Index climbing by 1.7%. Commercial real estate, semiconductor and natural gas stocks too were notably strong.

Asia Pacific stocks moved mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.9%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.8% and China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.2%. The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index increased by 0.7%, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.6%.

In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground after an early upward move, closing roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 4.30% after hitting a low of 4.25%.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News