Dow Jones Industrial Average
Financial stocks lead stellar first-quarter stock market gainsPosted by RJ and Makay on Apr 03, 2012 |
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This year’s first-quarter stock market performance was the best in many years. The Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 index rose 12% from the end of Q4 2011, and the Dow Jones industrial average surged 8.14%, the largest gains since Q1 1998. The Nasdaq showed the largest gain with an increase of 19%, its strongest first-quarter gain since 1991. The increases replenished almost $1.85 trillion into the market since January.
Securities regulators have issued subpoenas to hedge funds and other trading firms as it probes possible insider trading prior to the U.S. government’s long-term credit rating cut last month, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. SEC officials have demanded more information concerning specific positions taken shortly before the August 5 Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgrade of the U.S. sovereign debt rating to AA+ from AAA.
