US stocks rally after Bernanke's remarks

New York, March 27 (IANS) US stocks rallied Monday after the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank will bolster the economy despite signs of stronger recovery.

During a speech at the National Association for Business Economics spring conference, the Fed chief said that despite recent improvement, the job market remains weak. He emphasized on strengthening economic growth to help create jobs, Xinhua reported.

His words convinced investors that the Fed would keep the ultra-low interest rate for some periods of time and even raised expectations of further quantitative easing policy.

On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors said that the index of pending home sales fell 0.5 percent to 96.5 after a 2 percent increase the previous month. The index was near an almost two-year high, a sign that the housing market may slowly bottomed up.

In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 123.40 points, or 0.94 percent, to 13,204.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 13.29 points, or 0.95 percent, to 1,410.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index points gained 38.57 points, or 1.26 percent, to 3, 106.49.