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US markets surged on Wednesday for a fourth consecutive day as the S&P 500 again rose 0.3 per cent to hit a new record high on data that US labour market added an estimated 191,000 jobs in March.
The Dow and Nasdaq both rose nearly 0.2 percent on the new economic indicators which appear to show robust growth in the US economy.
The stock market’s record highs also comes on reports earlier this week that the Federal Reserve will maintain near-zero interest rates to boost GDP growth, and positive data from the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index for March and an increase in US construction.
The US Labour Department, which will release a monthly survey on Friday, says that the positive data released on Wednesday is particularly poignant because it reflects increased employment across a broad range of market sectors – from small businesses to large corporations.
In February, the revised job additions stood at 178,000.
Adding to the buoyancy is data which shows that average home prices in the US rose 12.2 per cent in February, year on year.
On Tuesday, a Gallup economic confidence index survey of 15,000 adults was at the level of -17. In October 2008, at the height of the sub-prime mortgage crisis which triggered global recession, the index was at a level of -60, its worst in the past decade.
It hit a high of -7 last May.
Source: Agencies
