Wall Street lower

Published October 19, 2008

NEW YORK, Oct 18: A strong rally that lifted Wall Street from last week’s multiyear lows has investors pondering whether the worst is now over for the stock market battered by its worst bear market in decades.

Some analysts say the savage sell offs over the past weeks have effectively established a bottom for the stock indexes, although others say a rebound will be hard to maintain with confidence weak and recession likely.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.74 per cent in the week to Friday to end at 8,852.22, coming back from its worst week in history that produced a dizzying 18 per cent drop.

The broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 4.60 per cent to 940.55 after its 18.2 per cent slide in the prior week.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite posted a 3.74 per cent weekly gain to 1,711.29.Bob Dickey, analyst at RBC Dain Rauscher, said the roller-coaster action in recent sessions has in fact established a floor for the market.

The market’s bounce off its lows was the most convincing bottoming pattern we have seen during the past six months and has increased our bullish opinion, Dickey said in a note to clients.

Joachim Fels at Morgan Stanley said the freezing of credit around the world has choked off economic growth and that it will take time to recover even with massive amounts of stimulus from government bailouts.

While decisive fiscal, monetary and regulatory action is likely to prevent a 1930-style depression, we think that a recession in the industrialized world is still in the cards, Fels said.—AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Solidarity with Palestine
Updated 29 Nov, 2024

Solidarity with Palestine

The wretched of the earth see in the Palestinian struggle against Israel a mirror of themselves.
Little relief for public
29 Nov, 2024

Little relief for public

INFLATION, the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services over a given period of time, has receded...
Right to education
29 Nov, 2024

Right to education

IT is troubling to learn that over 16,500 students of the University of Karachi (KU) have defaulted on fee payments...
A hasty retreat
Updated 28 Nov, 2024

A hasty retreat

Govt should not extend its campaign of violence against PTI and its leaders, thinking it now has the upper hand. Enough is enough.
Lebanon truce
28 Nov, 2024

Lebanon truce

WILL it hold? That is the question many in the Middle East and beyond will be asking after a 60-day ceasefire ...
MDR anomaly removed
28 Nov, 2024

MDR anomaly removed

THE State Bank’s decision to remove its minimum deposit rate requirement for conventional banks on deposits from...