(CercleFinance.com) – After opening in the red, the New York Stock Exchange headed higher on Wednesday morning following statements deemed reassuring by Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Fed, during his hearing in Congress.
At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones advanced 0.1% to 30,569.1 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained more than 0.6% to 11,140.4 points.
Taking his usual half-yearly speech to the Senate Banking Committee, the head of the Federal Reserve used unsurprising arguments that seemed to reassure the market.
In particular, he reaffirmed that the restrictive monetary policy currently being pursued by the central bank would not necessarily lead to the US economy falling back into recession.
Jerome Powell also assured that the Fed plans to adjust to economic data, which could translate into lower inflationary pressures and hope for a soft landing.
With valuations at their lowest for many months, Wall Street is benefiting from a few cheap takeovers which benefit in particular defensive stocks in the health, real estate and telecoms sectors.
Statements by the Fed Chairman are weighing on bond yields, with 10-year Treasuries falling to 3.145% as the barrel of oil fell nearly 5% to 104.6 dollars.
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