Investing.com - U.S. stocks traded higher Monday, as Apple’s stock dividend and plan to buy back USD10 billion of its shares signals U.S. economic health despite Fed words.
Near the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.05%, the S&P 500 moved higher by 0.40%, while the Nasdaq Composite traded higher by 0.75%.
Apple’s announcement that it will pay a dividend and buy back USD10 billion of its stocks ignited waves of stock buying euphoria and investor confidence pushing share prices higher across the board.
Stocks traded higher despite New York Fed President William Dudley issuing cautious words about U.S. economic growth.
Dudley stated,“signs that the economy is improving, do not dispel meaningful risks to growth including higher gasoline prices, fiscal cutbacks and a weak housing market.”
In euro zone news, Greece pulled off a successful auction as old government bonds were valued at 21.5% of their face value, meaning that CDS contracts will pay out 78.5 cents in the euro.
The CDS auction was triggered after Greece’s private sector creditors were forced to exchange their bonds in a debt swap that cut the value of Greek debt holdings by 53.5% earlier this month.
Elsewhere, the euro zone’s permanent bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility announced earlier that its first offering of 20-year bonds will be conducted at a lower price than initially planned, further boosting market sentiment.
In addition Monday, the U.S. National Association of Home Builders said builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes was unchanged in March, holding at its highest level since June 2007.
Near the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 traded flat at 0.00%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.47%, while Germany’s DAX gave back 0.05%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 traded down 0.07%.
Investors are awaiting German producer price numbers. Australian central bank meeting minutes, and U.S. building permit numbers as well as a talk by Fed Chief Ben Bernanke on Tuesday.