Dow flirts with break-even for '11, stocks end up
The Dow industrial average flirted with its break-even mark for 2011 on Wednesday as part of a rally that had the major indexes end trading with gains.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average finished up 102.55. or 0.90 percent. to 11,518.85. On Jan. 3, the first trading day of the year, the index closed at 11.674.76. Around 2:30 p.m. ET, it reached an intraday high of 11,601.31 before faltering.
The index had been up for the year until a massive slide in late July.
The S&P rose 11.71, or 0.98 percent, to 1,207.25. The Nasdaq ended 21.70 higher, or 0.84 percent, to 2,604.73.
Slovakia, suddenly seemingly Wall Street?s biggest power broker, helped stocks sustain their healthy gains.
The tiny Eurozone member, voted yesterday to reject a plan to shore up Europe?s banks and address the Union?s debt crisis. Though the vote happened after markets close, the major indexes were flat ahead of the move.
The government there fell, and the new one approved the measures today.
The New York Times? take on Europe and the market:
Analysts said that recent turmoil in the markets had effectively forced European leaders to show real progress in confronting problems related to sovereign debt.
?The market has screamed loud enough to make the European authorities stand up and listen,? said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist for Miller Tabak & Company.
Investors have been?focused almost exclusively on the European debt crisis for weeks?amid concerns that if Europe does not resolve it quickly, it could?spark another recession.
Aside from Europe, investors were be looking at quarterly corporate earnings. Companies began reporting their results?Tuesday. They are widely expected to report higher profits, although the banking sector may show it is beginning to struggle.
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