DJIA: Stocks Fall After Bernanke Comments, US Auto Industry to Report Sunny Sales, Toyota to Increase Output
Marisa Krystian | Mar 1, 2012 8:51am EST | 1min:58sec
Stocks hit session lows heading into the market close, building on a selloff that started after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that some investors saw as dampening expectations for further quantitative easing.
Bernanke played killjoy Wednesday, delivering a pessimistic assessment of the nation's economic condition in his semi-annual address to the House of Representatives.
While Bernanke didn't present Congress with any substantially new information, his predictions of the growth prospects for U.S. economic activity placed him squarely in the lower-range of economic forecasters.
On a lighter note, The U.S. auto industry is expected to report more than one million new cars sold in February, setting an unexpectedly robust pace that may result in the sector's strongest growth since 2008.
Automakers will report nearly 1.09 million new cars sold in February on Thursday, according to two industry forecasts, continuing the industry's revival.
In more auto news... Toyota said today it will increase the output of its Thai engine-building subsidiary Siam Toyota Manufacturing Co. in 2014, to meet growing demand in Asia.
