Wall Street up as optimism on rates continues


by Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Tuesday, continuing to benefit from the accommodative turn signaled by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) following its monetary policy meeting last week, while investors were also awaiting crucial data on inflation in the United States.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.68%, or 251.90 points, to 37,557.92 points.

The broader S&P-500 gained 27.81 points, or 0.59%, to 4,768.37 points.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 98.03 points (0.66%) to 15,003.22 points.

The three main Wall Street indices settled comfortably in positive territory, the Dow Jones once again establishing itself at an unprecedented high while the S&P-500 moved closer to its historic closing record reached on January 22.

“It’s encouraging to see that the market is expanding,” said Robert Pavlik, portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Connecticut. “It will be interesting to see if this trend continues early next year,” he added.

At the end of its two-day monetary policy meeting, the Fed again kept interest rates unchanged last Wednesday and indicated that its monetary tightening cycle was coming to an end, paving the way for a rate cut later. next year.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said today that there was “no urgency” for the central bank to start cutting rates, citing the strength of the economy and the slow pace of inflation falling towards the 2% objective.

However, the majority of financial markets are banking on a 25 basis point rate cut from next March, according to FedWatch data.

“The market is probably being a little too aggressive in its expectations on rate cuts,” said Robert Pavlik, adding that we had to remain “cautious” on the contours of monetary easing in 2024.

“Two cuts (rates) would probably make sense. But four or five would mean there is a problem with the economy,” he added. The American departure of Commerce must communicate on Thursday its final reading of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter, then the report on personal consumption in the United States will be published on Friday which will provide information on inflation. All major sectors of the S&P-500 ended the session in the green, led by energy and communication services.

On the value side, among the movements of note, Boeing increased by 1.2% after the Lufthansa company announced that it had ordered forty 737-8 MAX aircraft from the American aircraft manufacturer.

Amgen gained 1.1% after BMO raised its recommendation to “outperform”.

(French version Jean Terzian)

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