Stocks Higher as Bernanke Sticks to His Guns, Greece Nears Final Draft
After pushing lower for the first half hour of trade Tuesday morning, stocks bounced sharply as Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke finished a speech to the Senate Budget Committee. As the speech was previously presented to the House on February 2nd, investors must have really liked Bernanke's answers to Senator's questions which followed the prepared statements.
Some of the key topics Bernanke covered included the unemployment rate, inflation and a good tax code.
Bernanke said recent data points collected by the Fed have been encouraging and indicate signs of solid growth, however also shed light on the challenging environment for the unemployed.
Bernanke believes a “good tax code” would directly result in economic growth. The Fed chief said the expiration of tax cuts in 2013 will hamper the current growth rate; on the other side, higher taxes will impose costs on economic efficiency. Bernanke said the Fed doesn’t anticipate new policies to cut the unemployment rate below the 5.2-6 percent level.
The Fed will be taking a “balanced approach” when it comes to inflation, according to Bernanke, but likely stay below 2 percent well into 2013 and over the next few years.
Elsewhere, the euro is rising sharply (and pushing the US dollar down) as overseas investors are showing more optimism on prospects Greek officials are getting nearer to the completion of a final draft for structural and budget measures. Sources say Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos is meeting with creditors Tuesday.
After trading down more than 60 points just after the opening bell, the Dow is now up almost 27 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500, meanwhile, are up 4.5 and 1.5 points, respectively.
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Some of the key topics Bernanke covered included the unemployment rate, inflation and a good tax code.
Bernanke said recent data points collected by the Fed have been encouraging and indicate signs of solid growth, however also shed light on the challenging environment for the unemployed.
Bernanke believes a “good tax code” would directly result in economic growth. The Fed chief said the expiration of tax cuts in 2013 will hamper the current growth rate; on the other side, higher taxes will impose costs on economic efficiency. Bernanke said the Fed doesn’t anticipate new policies to cut the unemployment rate below the 5.2-6 percent level.
The Fed will be taking a “balanced approach” when it comes to inflation, according to Bernanke, but likely stay below 2 percent well into 2013 and over the next few years.
Elsewhere, the euro is rising sharply (and pushing the US dollar down) as overseas investors are showing more optimism on prospects Greek officials are getting nearer to the completion of a final draft for structural and budget measures. Sources say Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos is meeting with creditors Tuesday.
After trading down more than 60 points just after the opening bell, the Dow is now up almost 27 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500, meanwhile, are up 4.5 and 1.5 points, respectively.
Get immediate access to market moving news and alerts with StreetInsider.com Premium - FREE TRIAL!
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