NASDAQ (Photo : Reuters)
Global stocks in a bull market plowed ahead 3 percent to their top weekly rally in almost two years. The NASDAQ topped 5000, and is near an all-time record high that would wipe out the late 1990s tech bubble losses.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index shot up 1.9 percent. It closed a mere 0.5 percent from its March 2000 high.
Meanwhile, the NASDAQ Composite Index is within just 7 points of clearing its losses following the "Tech Bubble" of the late 1990s. A driving force is widespread buzz that the Federal Reserve will not increase interest rates past zero percent until after the 2nd quarter of 2015.
The Fed has officially stated that it will not boost interest rates at its meeting next month. Regarding the first rate increase this year it has not decided on "the timing," according to USA Today.
Other benchmark indexes also rose during the past week. The 500 Index of Standard & Poor rose to 2,108.10--just 0.4 percent from an all-time record. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 Index in London rose past 7,000, hitting a record high.
After global equities added over $1.5 trillion this week, the Fed admitted that economic growth has leveled off, according to Bloomberg. So it does not believe that an increase in interest rates is warranted.
Various features caused the global equities to surge. They included the value of the USD (U.S. Dollar) having its steepest weekly drop in three years, and crude oil prices rising for the first time in five weeks.
Jim O'Donnell, a manager at Forward Management LLC, explains that three huge central banks are "easing." That action is "lighting up" those equity markets.
