The latest batch of encouraging economic and corporate earnings reports could presage a more stable stock market in the near term.
Investors have taken heart from the official data on machinery orders, a bellwether of business fixed investment in the months ahead.
Machinery orders received by the nation's manufacturers rose markedly in the final quarter of 1999, raising expectations that industries are gearing up to increase capital investment, which would help clear the way for a domestic demand-led economic recovery.