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Nasdaq hits 5000 amid data, Chinese rate cut

Xinhua, March 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks rose in the morning session Monday, with the Nasdaqu Composite Index briefly hitting the round-number milestone of 5000 points for the first time since March 2000, as investors meditated on economic data and an interest cut in China.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 111.52 points, or 0.62 percent, to 18,244.22. The S&P 500 gained 7.99 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,112.49. The Nasdaq jumped 33.81 points, or 0.68 percent, to 4,997.34.

Growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector gathered momentum in February, according to financial data firm Markit Monday. The final seasonally adjusted Markit U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 55.1 in February from 53.9 in the previous month, its highest level since October 2014.

However, according to a report released by the Institute for Supply Management Monday, the February PMI registered 52.9 percent, a decrease of 0.6 percentage point from January's reading of 53.5 percent.

In January, personal income increased 0.3 percent, missing market consensus of 0.4 percent, while personal spending fell 0.2 percent, said the U.S. Commerce Department Monday. In the United States, consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the country's economy activity.

Analysts expected that relatively soft economic data might make the Federal Reserve stay accommodative for longer to begin raising rates.

Adding positive sentiment to the market, the People's Bank of China on Saturday announced that it would cut the benchmark deposit and loan interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) starting March 1.

After the cut, the one-year deposit rate stood at 2.5 percent, while one-year lending rate was 5.35 percent.

In corporate news, Berkshire Hathaway is in focus following the release of Warren Buffett's annual investment letter and the company's latest earnings. Dipping to 4.16 billion U.S. dollars from 4.99 billion dollars a year earlier, Berkshire posted a 16.7 percent decline in the fourth quarter net profit over the weekend.

Buffett said it was likely that although Berkshire would outperform other companies in the future, its size may make it impossible to equal past gains.

Shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) fell 0.47 percent to 220, 137.50 dollars apiece around midday Monday. Endite