US shares at highest level since 2008
US shares at highest level since 2008
US shares closed at their highest level in more than two years on Tuesday, as upbeat corporate earnings and strong US manufacturing data added to confidence in the US recovery.
Wall Street’s Dow Jones index closed above 12,000 points on Tuesday for the first time since mid-2008 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index – a broader measure of US shares – closed at its highest level since August 2008.
US shares have climbed rapidly since March 2009, when the Dow Jones index stood at 6,547 points – its lowest level in twelve years.
Observers say that surging corporate profits and resilient of consumer spending had played a part, while intervention by the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, to buy bonds, had made stocks a more appealing investment.
These factors had helped to ease concerns about possible economic implications from political turmoil in Egypt, and the continuing rise in the price of oil, with Brent crude going above $102 (£63), analysts said.