Overnight markets finished on their highs after Ben Bernanke’s commented that the Fed will keep its easy monetary policy if the US jobs market continues to show signs of weakness.
The Dow Index traded up 160.90 points at 13,241 while the S&P 500 jumped 19.40 points to finish at 1,416, this is its highest close since May 2008. Earlier in the session the German benchmark index traded up 1.2 percent to close at 7079.
Bernanke said the US economy needs to grow more quickly if it is to produce enough jobs to further bring down the unemployment rate from 8.3 percent causing the higher yielding currencies rally. The AUDUSD (see above chart) traded up from overnight lows of 1.0427 to recent highs of 1.0545.
In other reports the National Association of Realtors stated that pending home sales unexpectedly declined 0.5 percent to 96.5 in February.
Gold rose the most in one month on the comments as the USD tumbled against the majority of its trading counterparts. Gold traded up from 1656 to recent highs of 1694.
The Volatility Index which is widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market has finished the session at 14.26.
INDICES
Last Traded
SPI 200 future 4318
S&P500 Index 1415
Dow Jones 13241
FTSE 100 Index 5902
COMMODITIES
Last Traded
Gold 1692
Oil (Nymex) 107.03
CURRENCIES
Last Traded
AUDUSD 1.0533
EURUSD 1.3355
GBPUSD 1.5966
USDJPY 82.86
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News