It's been another astounding day on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrials soaring 889 points as investors scooped up stocks that were pounded lower in recent sessions.
Analysts said some investors were buying in anticipation that the Federal Reserve will cut its fed funds rate by half a point to 1 percent on Wednesday. Others said the market had just fallen too far, with the Dow having dropped more than 500 points the previous two trading days.
Still, the day was remarkable because investors brushed off a big drop in consumer confidence reported by the Conference Board.
The 889-point surge left the Dow at the 9,065 level. That was its second-largest point gain, coming after the 936 points the Dow jumped on Oct. 13.
The rally came despite the collapse in the Conference Board's monthly consumer confidence index, which fueled concerns about the likely depth of the expected recession in the U.S. in the wake of the global financial crisis. The Conference Board said its main index fell to 38.0 in October, its lowest since the survey started running 40 years ago and way down compared with September's 61.4.
Earlier in the day, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index recovered from 26-year lows, surging 459.02 points, or 6.4 percent, to 7,621.92. In London, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed 73.79 points, or 1.9 percent, higher at 3,926.38.
From the Associated Press
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAzMjM2NDYzMDEyMzc1Njk5NjAxNzY3OQ001))
