Slim Gain Is Dow's 3rd in Row

Stocks were mixed today, as enthusiasm over the Fed’s plan to get banks lending was tempered by a downward revision to third-quarter GDP and a drop in a home-price index, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow rose 36.47—its third consecutive up session—to 8,479.86. The Nasdaq fell 7.29 to settle at 1,464.73, while the S&P 500 rose 5.60, closing at 85741.

The recent sessions have seen a 12% Dow gain, the biggest since the rally after the 1987 crash, so anything short of a complete sell-off comes as positive news for equities. Said one analyst, “it will be a pretty good sign if we can get that sort of trauma behind us.” Financials clung to gains even as other sectors dropped, with JP Morgan Chase leading with an 8.6% surge.
(More Dow Jones stories.)