An increase in the price of oil and strong showings within the financial industry gave stocks a boost today. The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 160 points with Chevron and Goldman Sachs leading the Dow. Oill rose 4.5% closing at $42 per barrel (a 2016 high) following a report that oil producers in Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to freeze crude output ahead of an important OPEC meeting this weekend.
Lorraine Tan, Director of Equity Research in Asia for Morningstar expects oil prices to rise over the next two years.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker told Reuters news that he supports raising interest rates again as the U.S. economy strengthens. and that it’s still possible for the Fed to raise rates three times this year if the data allows.
Here are the final numbers from Tuesday, 4/12/16 on Wall Street:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,721.25 (+164.84 / +.94 %)
NASDAQ: 4.872.09 (+38.69 / +0.80 %)
S&P 500: 2,061.72 (+19.73 / +0.97 %)
