Thursday's early afternoon trade: stocks rally after BoE governor hints at stimulus

Wall Street rose in afternoon trading on Thursday after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney raised the prospect of an interest rate cut following Britain's vote to leave the European Union. Carney's comments added more steam to a recovery rally after a two-day post-Brexit carnage that erased about $3 trillion from global markets.
The three major US indexes - all up about 1 percent - have now recouped more than three-quarters of the losses suffered after the vote. Carney said monetary policy easing would likely be required over the summer and that the BoE had measures in place to prop up the country's economy and its vast banking sector.
"Central banks are doing their best to step in and send stocks higher," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive officer of Sarhan Capital. "I think the Fed is more than ready to follow suit if market conditions worsen." Investors will keenly watch St. Louis Fed President James Bullard's speech on US monetary policy outlook for clues on the Fed's take on policy easing. Bullard is scheduled to speak in London at 3:15 pm ET (1915 GMT).
A rise in consumer staples stocks also provided a lift to US stocks. Hershey soared 15.7 percent to $112.43 after reports that Mondelez had made a $107 per share bid. The jump made Hershey the top percentage gainer on the S&P, while Mondelez was up 2.4 percent.
All 10 major S&P sectors were higher, with the consumer staples index rising 1.45 percent. At 12:19 pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 167.31 points, or 0.95 percent, at 17,861.99, the S&P 500 was up 18.1 points, or 0.87 percent, at 2,088.87 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 39.73 points, or 0.83 percent, at 4,818.98.