NEW YORK - STOCKS edged higher on Thursday, building on a rally in the prior session sparked by a Federal Reserve decision to pump another trillion dollars into the financial system to fuel an economic rebound.
In opening trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 35.92 points (0.48 per cent) to 7,522.50, extending a rally that has seen gains in six of the past seven sessions.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 12.27 points (0.82 per cent) to 1,503.49 and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 added 5.93 points (0.75 per cent) to 800.28.
Wall Street rallied on Wednesday and European markets following with strong gains on Thursday after the Fed's surprise announcement on buying up to US$300 billion in long-term Treasury bonds and an additional US$850 billion in other debt in a further bid to bring down lending costs and fire up the moribund economy.
Mr Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com said the Fed's actions got an enthusiastic response from the stock market.
'The Fed's initiatives were a surprise to most participants and they had a 'we mean business' feel to them,' he said.
'We don't know if what the Fed announced yesterday is the knockout punch (for the economic slump). It is certainly a stinger, but if it isn't the difference maker, we can't help but wonder with some concern, what's next?' -- AFP
