Stocks Rock In The New Year
Stocks rocketed higher Tuesday after Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggested that the Fed's 18-month campaign of interest rate hikes may finally be nearing an end.
Stocks were flat when the news hit at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, and the Nasdaq and S&P were 1.7% higher by the time the first trading day of 2006 ended two hours later.
The Fed's December meeting minutes said that while more interest rate increases are likely, the number "probably would not be large." That cheered traders, who had earlier sold stocks on a weaker than expected national manufacturing report.
Google
Genesis Micro
Rambus
Blue Coat
rose 5% after Piper Jaffray set a $600 target on the stock.
jumped 8% on an Oppenheimer upgrade.
soared 12% on a deal with AMD
.
fell 12% on an acquisition.