Daily Data Flow: Fed Bond Buying Commitment Lifts Stocks; Cypriot Banks Negotiate with Russia; Good Day for Chinese Stocks

Stocks Rise as Fed Continues Bond Buying (Bloomberg)
Today, the Federal Reserve announced it will maintain its practice of buying bonds to stimulate the economy, and stocks rose in response. “The Fed essentially did what’s to be expected, which is to reinforce that the economy still needs support,” Hank Herrmann, Overland Park, Kansas-based chief executive officer of Waddell & Reed Investment Management Co., said.

Cypriot Banks Negotiate with Russia (CNBC)
The beleaguered banks of Cyprus will not open until next Tuesday at the earliest, as they negotiate with Russia over financial aid. “It would make sense for the Russian banking system perhaps to to go in and sort out the Cypriot banks, why not if such a large amount of the deposits are Russian anyway? It provides a nice way out for Cyprus while relieving Europe of the obligation to rescue Cyprus,” Edmund Shing, European Index Strategist at S&P/Dow Jones Indices, said.

Chinese Stocks Have Best Day in Two Months (Reuters)
Financial and real estate sector gains in China guided that country’s stocks to their best day in two months. “This rebound could go on for the rest of the week, but let’s not get too excited because nothing fundamentally has changed yet,” said Hong Hao, chief equity strategist for Bank of Communication International Securities.