Stocks Bounce at Open after 4 Week Drop

U.S. stocks opened higher Monday after four weeks of declines, as market sentiment is improving in anticipation of a policy response from the Fed this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 165.21 points to 10,982.86. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 17.18 points to 1,140.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 41.22 points to 2,383.06.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to use his highly anticipated speech from Jackson Hole, Wyo. to stress that he is willing to ride to the rescue to stabilize the economy.

U.S. economic conditions improved slightly in July, amid a pickup in industrial and manufacturing production, according to report Monday from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The Chi Fed’s National Activity Index narrowed to negative 0.06 in July, following a revised negative 0.38 in June. But the three-month moving average increased to negative 0.29 from negative 0.54.

Gold climbed to a record above $1,890 an ounce in London and New York as concern about slowing economic growth and debt crises spurred demand for bullion as a protection of wealth. Gold for December delivery was up 1.8 percent at $1,885.90 an ounce on the Comex in New York after touching a record $1,898.60.

Brent crude fell by more than a dollar on Monday to around $107 a barrel with traders and investors anticipating the resumption of oil exports from OPEC-member Libya as a six-month civil war there appeared close to an end. Brent crude was down $1.41 to $107.21 at 9:11 a.m. EDT. U.S. crude rose $1.39 to $83.65 a barrel as the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies.