US stocks surge on consumer spending

BREAKING NEWS - Sunday December 23, 2007

US stocks surge on consumer spending

New York (dpa) - US stocks rallied broadly Friday after consumer spending surged, dampening fears that the world's largest economy will head into recession.

Energy shares rose as the price of oil edged up. Technology stocks were buoyed when Research In Motion Ltd, maker of the Blackberry e- mail phone, forecast higher sales than analysts expected.

The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 24.34 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 1,484.46. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 205.01, or 1.6 per cent, to 13,450.65. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 51.13, or 1.9 per cent, to 2,691.99.

Consumer spending in the US rose the most in two years in November, Commerce Department data showed, as early holiday discounts lured shoppers. The 1.1-per-cent gain was nearly three times the 0.4- per-cent rise in October.

"The consumer's resiliency is just amazing," Bill Knapp, chief investment strategist at MainStay Investments in New York told Bloomberg News. "We're going to dodge that recession."

For the week, the S&P 500 added 1.1 per cent, the Dow gained 0.8 per cent and the Nasdaq jumped 2.1 per cent.

The US dollar fell to 69.56 euro cents in New York from 69.82 on Thursday. The dollar rose to 114.06 Japanese yen from 113.14.

Gold rose 12.20 dollars to 815.40 dollars per fine ounce.

05:34 Dec 22, 2007

Bangkok Post