US stocks enjoyed a Bernanke-bounce after the Federal Reserve Chairman kept the door open to more quantitative easing in his keynote speech at the Jackson Hole symposium today.

There were few surprises from Ben Bernanke, but his comments did cement rises in already buoyant equity markets and laid to rest fears that the run-up to his speech had been so elongated - Bernanke took longer to take to the stage than James Brown used to take getting off it - that the speech itself would be a let-down.

Nevertheless, after the dust had settled, global stock markets maintained their upwards momentum as the Federal Reserve Chairman hinted that more quantitative easing (QE) would be necessary at some point, as he harboured some serious concerns about the US economy.

Financial trader Shavaz Dhalla said: "Bulls were able to claw back gains and once again prove that the hope for QE, even without concrete policy announcements, is enough to catalyse optimism within the markets."

Bernanke said that the Federal Reserve "will provide additional policy accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labour market conditions."

He said that the economic situation in America is "far from satisfactory" with the "painfully slow" recovery in the labour market: "unless the economy begins to grow more quickly than it has recently, the unemployment rate is likely to remain far above levels consistent with maximum employment for some time," he said.

However, Michael Derks, the chief strategist at spread betting firm FxPro, said that Bernanke's comments were simply a reiteration of what everyone has heard before: "For his part, the Fed Chairman failed to really add in any material way to the last set of FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] Minutes, other than to voice 'grave concern' over the state of the labour market and to assert that high unemployment might 'wreak structural damage' onto the economy."

Companies

Banking giant JPMorgan Chase gained after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is looking to scale back its dealing with brokerages in an attempt to reduce risk.

Molybdenum producer Thompson Creek Metals was higher after Dahlman Rose & Co lifted its rating on the stock from 'hold' to 'buy'.

Facebook dropping to a new low is hardly an event worth tweeting about these days, but the social networking giant was on the slide again after Daniel Salmon, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, cast doubts on the firm's ability to grow sales in the current environment. Salmon is bearish on the stock and reduced his price target from $25 to $15, a far-cry from the $38 a pop so many people were anxious to pay/sell at on the morning of the stock's flotation.

US Airways gained altitude on news it is in merger talks with American Airlines owner AMR.

Economic data

US factory orders rose 2.8% in July, the biggest monthly gain in a year. Consensus forecasts were for a 1.2% increase month-month in July, compared with the 0.5% fall registered in June.

The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment rose to 74.3 in the final August report, compared with the preliminary August estimate of both 73.6. he market had been expecting the final reading to confirm the preliminary estimate.

Perceptions of labour market conditions were unchanged from July as 21% of respondents expected lower unemployment in the coming year, but perceptions of current financial situations improved a tad, as 30% of consumers reported being better off than a year ago, up from 28% previously.

S&P 500 - Risers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $20.59 +4.67%
SAIC Inc. (SAI) $12.35 +4.57%
Corning Inc. (GLW) $12.12 +4.30%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $50.21 +3.42%
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) $12.17 +3.31%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $31.57 +3.14%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $78.56 +3.10%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $32.61 +3.07%
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) $35.74 +3.01%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $41.74 +2.96%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $4.64 -2.00%
Spectra Energy Corp. (SE) $28.16 -1.28%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $31.18 -0.89%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $19.02 -0.73%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $60.06 -0.69%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $42.14 -0.66%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $5.25 -0.57%
Ameren Corp. (AEE) $32.82 -0.55%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $37.66 -0.50%
Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) $34.88 -0.46%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.90 +2.60%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $112.73 +1.62%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $30.81 +1.62%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $19.20 +1.59%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $17.04 +1.55%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
None

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $31.22 +2.66%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.90 +2.60%
Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $27.13 +2.53%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $100.42 +2.51%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $11.75 +2.44%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $34.20 +2.43%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $47.57 +2.19%
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $35.69 +2.00%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $31.18 -0.89%
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $6.66 -0.76%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $60.06 -0.69%
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) $2.53 -0.59%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $28.90 -0.52%



JH

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