by Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Friday after reports in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) may debate a smaller hike in November rates in December.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.47%, or 748.97 points, to 31,082.56 points.
The broader S&P-500 gained 86.97 points, 2.37%, to 3,752.75 points.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced for its part by 244.87 points (2.31%) to 10,859.72 points.
Some Fed officials have signaled their willingness to debate whether and how to signal a plan for a smaller rate hike in December, according to the WSJ.
San Francisco Regional Fed Chair Mary Daly said the Fed should avoid pushing the US economy into an “unprovoked downturn” by tightening monetary policy too much.
Investors expect the Fed to hike rates 75 basis points for the fourth consecutive time at its November meeting.
“There was the (report), then there was the confirmation that (a hike of) 75 basis points seems to be in place for November, but there may be room to slow down and spread out (the hikes over time),” says Tom Hainlin, strategist at US Bank Wealth Management.
“It would then be conceivable to suspend things long enough to get some relief.”
Information from the WSJ enabled US indices to register their largest weekly percentage increase in four months.
Stocks Meta Platforms and Pinterest, which rely heavily on ad revenue, fell after Snap posted its weakest quarterly revenue growth in five years due to a drop in ad revenue.
American Express and Verizon Communications were also down following the release of their quarterly results.
Quarterly reports from big companies like Twitter, Microsoft, Alphabet and Apple are due next week.
* The reminder of the session in Europe: [.EUFR]
(Report Chuck Mikolajczak; French version Camille Raynaud)
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