Markets zoom as Bernanke signals recovery hopes; Trichet cautious
22 Aug 2009
The US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the worst global recession in 70 years was nearing a close, though the recovery is likely to be relatively slow at first.
"After contracting sharply over the past year, economic activity appears to be leveling out, both in the United States and abroad, and the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good," Bernanke said.
Bernanke was speaking at an annual Fed Reserve conference at a national park in the western state of Wyoming, which was attended by bankers and policy makers around the world.
World stock markets have risen after Bernanke said the world's biggest economy was nearing the start of a recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 155.91 points, or 1.67 per cent, to end at 9,505.96 on the back of the news. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 18.76 points, or 1.86 per cent, to 1,026.1. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 31.68 points, or 1.59 per cent, to 2,020.90.
Britain's FTSE 100 ended 2 per cent higher on Friday, setting its highest close since early October 2008. Led by commodity and financial stocks, the FTSE 100 index .FTSE closed 94.31 points higher at 4,850.89, its fourth straight day of gains.