Dull but still positive economic data helped US stocks to another weekly gain on Friday, with the S&P 500 chalking up its third straight weekly rise and its eighth rise in nine weeks.
The gains were minimal after a solid run-up from the beginning of the year and traders could not find much of a reason to keep up their buying.
The broad-based S&P finished the week up 0.28 percent, at 1,369.63, while the narrower blue-chip measure, the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average, slipped a bare 0.04 percent for the period, to 12,977.57.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite did better, ending at 2,976.19 for a 0.42 percent gain.
After the Dow tested ground above the 13,000-level every day — hitting its best levels since May 2008 — the index on Friday could not manage to break the 12,980-line except for one extremely brief and odd spike.
The NASDAQ, meanwhile, bumped to the 3,000-barrier on Wednesday, but failed to break through.
The little news there was on the economy during the week was enough to confirm that it was still growing steadily.
However, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who spoke to the US Congress on Wednesday, took the enthusiasm out of any who had latched onto an upward revision of the fourth quarter growth rate to a peppy 3 percent as a sign of the rebound picking up pace.
“Real household income and wealth were flat in 2011 and access to credit remained restricted for many potential borrowers. Consumer sentiment, which dropped sharply last summer, has since rebounded, but remains relatively low,” Bernanke said, explaining the Fed’s forecast of growth holding around 2.25 percent this year.
Yet, despite his slightly downbeat portrait of the economy, Bernanke gave no hint as to whether the Fed saw any need for a new “QE3” stimulus to help growth along.
That disappointed analysts and investors hoping to see the central bank do more to juice the economy.
“It’s hard to get too excited about the economy when 70 percent of it [consumption] is stuck in neutral and the rest — business spending, government spending and foreign trade — is slowing down,” Chris Low of FTN Financial said.
“The economic data clearly have a better feel to them, but there is no evidence of a sudden break out to the upside,” Wells Fargo Securities said.
“High gasoline prices are clearly still a problem for consumers, particularly for lower and middle-income households,” it said.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
Tokyo Electron's Taiwan unit today said in a written response that it respects the judicial process, takes the court ruling seriously and would not appeal in the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) trade secrets case. Last month, a court fined the Taiwan unit of Japan's Tokyo Electron NT$150 million (US$4.74 million) in a case involving trade secrets related to TSMC's sensitive chip technology.
Two of Taiwan’s international carriers, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), have retained the five-star airline rating awarded by international airline review organization Skytrax. Starlux was awarded the distinction for a second consecutive year, while EVA Air received it for the 11th straight year, Skytrax said in statements released yesterday and on Thursday last week, respectively. The five-star rating is considered one of the airline industry's highest honors and is awarded following professional audits of airline product and frontline service standards, Skytrax said. The ratings are based on in-depth assessments using unified global quality standards rather than customer review scores
RSS