Employers in the US created 223,000 new jobs in April, a much larger increase than the month before. At the same time, the US Department of Labor said the unemployment rate dropped to a seven-year low of 5.4%, down from 5.5% in March.
Although the US Federal Reserve was worried about turmoil in emerging markets, the central bank reached an easy consensus to end its stimulus program, its latest minutes reveal.
The US Federal Reserve adopted tight new rules for foreign banks to shield the US taxpayer from costly bailouts, ceding only minor concessions despite pressure from abroad to weaken the rule.
US President Barack Obama has warned that Wall Street should be concerned that a conservative faction of Republicans is willing to allow the country to default on its debt. The US government has partially closed after Congress failed to agree a budget and will run out of cash on 17 October unless its debt ceiling is raised.
The US stock market slowly returned to life on Wednesday after two days in the dark, in the wake of the massive storm Sandy that caused the market's first weather-related two-day closure since the late 19th century.
Stock markets, shuttered for two days by Hurricane Sandy’s punch ashore, plan to reopen Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange’s parent company, NYSE Euronext, said trading would commence as usual with a 9:30 a.m. opening bell.
Global stocks and the Euro rallied on Wednesday after the world's leading central banks agreed to cut the cost for European banks to borrow much-needed dollars.
New York police prevented protesters from shutting down Wall Street, arresting at least 177 people in repeated clashes with an Occupy Wall Street rally that grew to several thousand strong.
Ex-Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta has turned himself in to the FBI and pleaded not guilty in court to securities fraud before being freed on a 10 million dollars bail.
Anti-Wall Street protesters vowed to keep up their fight on Sunday despite the arrests of more than 700 people the previous day for blocking traffic lanes on the Brooklyn Bridge in an unauthorized protest.