While you were sleeping US data, Merkel buoy markets

While you were sleeping US data, Merkel buoy markets
By Margreet Dietz Aug 17 (BusinessDesk) - Wall Street found reasons to rally as Cisco's results surpassed expectations, the latest US economic data surprised on the upside and German Chancellor Angela Merkel signalled conditional support for ECB bond buying. US residential building permits rose to an 812,000 annual rate in July, the highest level since August 2008, yet another sign that the nation's flagging housing market may be set to rebound. A separate report showed that the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefi...