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Markets Post Best Week Of The Year

The markets ended in positive territory for the fourth day in a row, capping off the best week this year.

Of course, last week, was painful with big losses. The Wall Street Journal reports on the numbers:

"The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 93.24 points, or 0.7%, to close at its daily high of 12554.20. The gain was the average's fourth-straight and capped its biggest weekly advance since December, largely thanks to a nearly 287-point rally on Wednesday on hopes of more stimulus from central banks.

"The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 10.67 points, or 0.8%, to 1325.66. All 10 of the index's sectors rose, led by telecommunications. Wal-Mart StoresWMT +3.57% climbed 3.6%, leading the Dow higher, and hit a 12-year intraday high. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 27.40 points, or 1%, to 2858.42."

The Journal says the markets were reacting to Spain, which seems to be settling, with country very likely to ask for an E.U. bailout.

The AP says another factor is that the price of oil continued to drop this week and the "Commerce Department said U.S. wholesale stockpiles grew 0.6 percent in April. That's twice as fast as they grew in March and a sign that businesses are ordering enough goods to lead to increased factory production and sales. Investors had been braced for more sluggish growth."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.