Positive end to rough week for US markets

  • 13/02/2016
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 11 (Getty)
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 11 (Getty)

The US stock market has closed up by two percent, a more positive result after a rough week of losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed at 15,973 points, pushed upwards by bank stocks and a lift in oil prices, but the market still lost around 1.4 percent across the week.

JPMorgan was up 8.3 percent after the company's CEO, Jamie Dimon, bought over $37 million of the company's stock.

The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil was up by more than 12 percent, settling at US$29.44 a barrel. The increase follows new hints that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were ready to cut production.

American market conditions were looking more positive, at least in the short term, Adam Sarhan of Sarhan Capital told CNBC.

"I definitely urge caution, but the conditions are there for a short-term bounce," Mr Sarhan said.

Phillip Titzer, vice president of investment operations at Edgar Lomax Co., told Bloomberg that investors were looking for a chance to buy.

"This might just be some investing of some cash with people thinking prices look good now.

"There isn't any huge development, but oil is up and so many times we see oil go up and stocks go up," Mr Titzer said.

The S&P 500 index closed up more than 35 points, or 1.95 percent and the Nasdaq was up 1.66 percent.

Newshub.