U.S. stocks were higher on Thursday, as markets attempted to recover from early setbacks in the Euro Zone.
The European Central Bank (ECB) revoked a previous policy that allowed banks to use Greek government debt as collateral for loans. This had a significant impact because many banks are invested in Greek bonds due to their relatively massive (10 percent) yields.
The market fluctuation brings into question the wisdom of investing in these junk bonds. Many experts say banks previously had no fear of such forays because of the belief that even in a worst-case scenario, someone would bail them out.
On Thursday, oil prices moved forward, resuming the rally that came to a screeching halt on Wednesday when the commodity dropped 8.7 percent. This performance—the worst in three months—followed consecutive days of upticks in oil prices. Today, oil went back up by 6% as of early afternoon. Until oil finds its appropriate level, market volatility will likely continue.
Here are the numbers from Thursday on Wall Street:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,884.88 (+211.86)
NASDAQ: 4,765.10 (+48.39)
S&P 500: 2,062.51 (+21.00)
