Investing.com - U.S. stocks moved higher Friday, following lower than expected gross domestic product numbers and a long-awaited public address from U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke.
In afternoon U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.93% to 11,260.36, the Nasdaq Composite Index surged 2.3% to 2,475.24, and the S&P 500 rose 1.27% to trade at 1,174.04.
Early in Friday’s session, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that although the bank had the capacity to stimulate U.S. economic growth, further discussion was necessary to weigh the benefits of an additional round of quantitative easing.
“These options were discussed in August and we will continue to consider these and other pertinent issues at our meeting in September,” Bernanke said.
Dealers had been looking for signs from the Fed of a possible new round of quantitative easing in light of persistently high unemployment, weak factory orders and the recent downgrade by Standard & Poor’s of the U.S. top-notch credit rating.
But the market took the decision by the Federal Reserve to delay further fiscal action as a sign that the U.S. economy was not in immediate danger of steeper falls.
Also Friday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that U.S. gross domestic product rose at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1% in the second quarter. That followed a 1.3% rise the previous three-month period but was below market expectations for a 1.1% gain in the April to June quarter.
Consumer spending, which makes up nearly 70% of the U.S. economy, was shown to have risen at an annualized rate of 0.4% in the first quarter, the smallest gain in a year, but up from the initial estimate for a 0.1% gain.
Apple Inc. rebounded from losses earlier in the week, climbing 2.3%, in the wake of the announced resignation of iconic CEO Steve Jobs.
Technology and manufacturer issues fared well during the session with Cisco Systems Inc. rising 1.65%, Intel Corp. up 2.2%, Caterpillar Inc, adding 2.1% and farm machinery manufacturer Deere&Co. surging 3.8%.
Bank of America Corp. shares cooled, advancing 1% from Thursday’s 10% jump, after multibillionaire Warren Buffet committed USD5 billion to the stability of the U.S. financial institution.
Also Friday, Bernanke announced that the Federal Reserve Bank would be extending its September meeting to two days, September 20 and 21, in order review policy options.