Economic News

U.S. stocks ended sharply higher, with the S&P 500 Index posting its best weekly point gain in over three years, on hopes the Federal Reserve will stop raising interest rates after economic growth slowed more than expected in the second quarter. Friday's strong finish comes after a week of volatile trading due to a mixed set of quarterly reports. Strong earnings from the likes of Merck, Exx ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- The latest reports on the economy raise as many questions as they answer. Which means the Federal Reserve must still play its hunches about the trade- offs between growth and inflation. The GDP report released Friday showed a sharp drop in growth and a sharp rise in inflation in the second quarter. That's pretty much what the Fed had predicted, but it still leave ...

The dollar fell to a more than two-week low versus the yen and was also sharply lower against other major currencies Friday after data showed the U.S. economy slowed in the second quarter. U.S. gross domestic product grew at a real 2.5% annual rate in the second- quarter after a torrid 5.6% pace in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected the ec ...

U.S. stocks rallied Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average looking at its best week since March 2003, on hopes the Federal Reserve will interpret a sharper-than-expected slowdown in economic growth in the second quarter as a signal that it no longer needs to raise interest rates. The improved rate outlook caps a week of solid gains for the market, although trading has been volatile due t ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- Japanese economic policymakers shouldn't rest on their laurels, now that Japan has finally escaped from its deflationary post- bubble trap, the International Monetary Fund said Friday. "Deflation has ended and the economy is on a strong recovery path," the fund said in its annual review of Japanese policy. "The financial and corporate sectors are in their best shape ...

U.S. stocks rallied Friday as hopes of an end to more than two years of interest-rate hikes following data showing slower-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter sparked a triple-digit gain on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow industrials (DJI) rose 122 points to 11,223. The benchmark index is now at its best level since July 7 and is on track to deliver its best weekly perf ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- The U.S. economy slowed in the second quarter, growing at a real 2.5% annual rate after a torrid 5.6% pace in the first quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Consumer spending weakened in the April through June period, residential investment fell further and business investment eased to the slowest growth in more than two years. Investments in business equi ...

Treasury prices zoomed into positive territory early Friday, pushing the benchmark yield below 5% for the first time since mid-June, after hopes for a speedy conclusion to the Federal Reserve's rate tightening program were fed by the latest gross domestic product report. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note last was up 12/32 at 101 with a yield ( TNX) of 4.994%, down from 5.04% at Thursday's clo ...

The dollar fell to a more than two-week low versus the yen and was also sharply lower against the euro early Friday after data showed the U.S. economy slowed in the second quarter. The gross domestic product grew at a real 2.5% annual rate in the second- quarter after a torrid 5.6% pace in the first quarter. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a reading of 3.1%. Meanwhile, core consumer p ...

U.S. stocks rallied Friday on hopes the Federal Reserve may signal an end to its cycle of interest-rate hikes at its August meeting after a report showing the economy grew more slowly than expected in the second quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 72 points to 11,173. Of the 30 Dow stocks, 25 contributed to gains. The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) gained 19 points to 2,073 w ...