Posted on: Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Stronger dollar, drop in oil prices boost stocks
By Michael J. Martinez
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Wall Street enjoyed a modest rebound yesterday after three weeks of losses, advancing as investors felt more optimistic about the economy and indulged in a little bargain hunting. Falling oil prices and a strengthening dollar also spurred buying.
The economy, however, was foremost on investors' minds. There was no significant economic data released yesterday, so the market was anxiously awaiting gross domestic product and employment numbers later in the week and hoping they would show the economy has strength to overcome inflation.
"Investors are cautiously putting a foot back into the market," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at Spencer Clarke LLC. "The market appears to be oversold, but investors are going to need some sort of catalyst, whether it's falling oil prices or earnings or some of the economic data coming out this week, to really have the confidence to push things higher."
Investors were also cheered as the dollar gained ground against most major currencies, including the euro and the Japanese yen. Crude oil futures continued their slow retreat, with a barrel of light crude settling at $54.05, down 79 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by nearly 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.79 billion shares.
While Dow Jones industrial General Motors Corp. suffered from a new round of bad news, an $11.3 billion leveraged buyout of SunGard Data Systems Inc. showed that the recent wave of merger and acquisition activity would continue, and American International Group Inc. rebounded even as probes into its business practices continued.
