Stocks Rise as Traders Find Signs for Optimism

Spending, productivity outpace estimates
By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 6, 2007 4:52 PM CDT
Stocks Rise as Traders Find Signs for Optimism
George Poracky, left, of Van der Moolen Specialists looks at a monitor along with a colleague on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007, in New York. Stocks fell sharply as a jittery Wall Street sold off on a report showing a large drop in pending home sales and read anecdotal...   (Associated Press)

US stocks rose today, Bloomberg reports, boosted by news that back-to-school and luxury shopping outpaced forecasts, along with a spike in worker productivity and a slowdown in labor costs. The Dow climbed 57.88 to 13,363.35. The Nasdaq gained 8.37 to finish at 2,614.32, and the S&P rose 6.26 to 1,478.55.

Though many fear healthy consumer spending could dissuade the Fed from cutting rates later this month, "the market continues to look for anything it can find to see if the economy is going to muddle its way through," one analyst said. "There are a lot of people out there who think the economy, except for the financial sector, is doing just fine." (More retail stories.)

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