US stocks gain as China move fails to calm global markets
26 Aug 2015
Global market gains following Tuesday's announcement of a reduction in lending rates by China's central bank proved short-lived with fresh losses in all major stock markets, except perhaps in the United States.
US stocks moved higher in early trading on Wednesday after slumping for six straight days amid concern about a slowing Chinese economy even as stocks elsewhere continued to fall in volatile trading.
The three major US indexes - Dow Jones, S&P and Nasdaq - have drooped six days in a row, the longest market slide in more than three years. The Dow had fallen about 1,900 points over that period.
A rally on Tuesday also faded in the final minutes of trading.
Today's breather came from the latest corporate deal and earnings news. Technology stocks emerged the biggest gainers.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 328 points, or 2.1 per cent, to 15,994 as of 9:48 am Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 39 points, or 2.1 per cent, to 1,906. The Nasdaq composite added 106 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 4,613.
Drespite falling oil prices, Cameron International, a maker of equipment for the oil industry, jumped 43 per cent after Schlumberger said it was buying the company in a cash-and-stock deal. Cameron rose $18.59 to $60.92.
The 10 sectors in the S&P 500 index moved higher, led by technology stocks. The sector was up 2.7 per cent.
Germany's DAX was down 0.7 per cent, while France's CAC 40 fell by the same amount. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.7 per cent.
Markets in Asia were mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index rose 3.2 per cent to 18,376.83, South Korea's Kospi gained 2.6 per cent to 1,894.09 and Australia's S&P ASX/200 rose 0.7 per cent to 5,172.80, helped by buying of resource-related shares.
Shares also rose in Taiwan. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.5 per c4ent to 21,305.17, and Mainland China's smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 3.1 per cent.
the In India, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex failed to capitalise on the previous session's gains, falling 318 points to settle below the 26,000-mark, as investors steered clear of risky bets.
Benchmark US crude fell 21 cents to 39.10 a barrel in New York. It rose $1.07 a barrel on Tuesday.