Wall Street Friday climbed to a fresh 2009 high as analysts boosted their growth outlook for the US. The market was inspired after Barclay's Capital raised its forecast for the nation's GDP growth in first three months of next year to five per cent from three per cent. For the week, Dow index posted a gain of 215 points.
Wall Street closed higher overnight on investors' buying in industrial and materials stocks. Meanwhile, the fears of trade dispute between the US and China was offset by the news that a Chinese wealth fund is in talks to take over a minority stake in the US power plant AES.
US markets were closed for the Labour Day public holiday, while Europe and Asia markets posted strong gains on Monday.
Wall Street was higher on Friday as a government report showed that the pace of job losses slowed in August. But the US stocks were still in negative territory for the week with the worst performance since early July.
Wall Street overnight extended its losses after a disappointing non-farm payrolls report in August, which raised concerns over the coming key reports on employment this week. US private sector slashed 298,000 jobs in August, a faster rate than economists' forecast.
US stocks were lower Friday over consumer data. Commerce Department said that consumer spending rose mildly in July, while personal income was unchanged. The downbeat data of US consumer sentiment also weighed on the market.
US stocks opened lower overnight due to the massive drop in Shanghai shares, which also caused a broad selloff in Asia markets. But Wall Street ended the day higher as the energy companies were boosted on hope of an improving demand. The US oil futures rose after the US Department of Energy said US oil inventories plunged unexpectedly.
