Investors dove into stocks on Thursday as global efforts to end the financial crisis fed the market's newfound optimism that the economy is on the mend.
Construction spending fell for a fifth straight month in February as another big drop in home building offset a slight rebound in nonresidential construction.
A New York-based nonprofit research group says 100,000 fewer job advertisements were posted online in March.
MetLife Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive C. Robert Henrikson received compensation of $12.4 million in 2008, down 13 percent from the previous year, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing Tuesday.
The Treasury Department on Tuesday extended a temporary guarantee of money market mutual fund assets initially put in place during the height of the financial crisis.
An index that tracks signed contracts to purchase previously occupied homes rose in February from a record low a month earlier as buyers took advantage of deeply discounted prices and low interest rates.
A trade group's measure of the health of the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for the 14th straight month in March, and while the pace of decline was slower than expected, any pickup in jobs is still highly unlikely before next year.
Wall Street has ended a tumultuous March on a high note, managing its first winning month this year and its best monthly performance in nearly seven years.
U.S. home prices sank by the sharpest annual rate on record in January, and the pace continues to accelerate, but there were a handful battered metro areas where price declines slowed, according to data released today.
European stock markets rose modestly Tuesday following a mixed Asian session as investors picked up beaten-down stocks but remained acutely aware that the rally could run out of steam in the run-up to this Thursday's G-20 summit of world leaders.
