economic data

The S&P 500 is up 20 percent from its October low. It keeps climbing on a mixed bag of earnings, improving U.S. economic data, and easing credit conditions in Europe. 

NEW YORK -- Mediocre U.S. economic data and declines in Italian bond interest rates were enough to get investors back into the holiday spirit and resume last week's Santa Claus rally Thursday.

Some recent economic data is showing that you don't have to be out of a job to be facing a financial squeeze.

Five years into the worst downturn since the Great Depression of Lewis' era, the latest economic data offer little solace to the 14 million American's who can't find work.

A day after Wall Street broke a three-day winning streak, stocks rose sharply again, with the Dow gaining over 200 points after upbeat U.S. economic data and optimism over Europe.

Wall Street took a breather after the best winning streak in two years as traders weighed fresh euro zone debt concerns and relatively upbeat economic data.

1. Stocks staged an impressive rally this week as the situation in Greece appears to be reaching a head and economic data was better-than-expected.

The S&P 500 rose an amazing 5.6 percent throughout the week, the biggest weekly gain since July 2009. 2.

QE2 officially came to an end this week. The program, hinted at in August 2010 and launched in November, aimed to stimulate the economic recovery which at that point was seen as too slow.

While it can be argued about the effectiveness of the controversial program, the stock market is up about 26 percent since Ben Bernanke's

World markets fell Friday despite positive economic data out of the U.S., as a political shake-up in Greece added to worries that the country might be forced to default on its debt.

U.S. stock index futures rose Tuesday after economic data out of China drew investors into an equities market that has become oversold.

Lingering concerns about the U.S. economy sent stocks lower for a fourth straight day.  With little new economic data, investors reacted to news that reinforced Friday's grim jobs report.