SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 27 September 2023, Wednesday |

Wall Street ends higher as investors await US inflation, jobs data

Wall Street ended higher on Monday, with gains in 3M and Goldman Sachs ahead of key inflation and jobs data this week that will offer more clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.

All three major stock indexes rose as investors digested last Friday’s comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that the U.S. central bank may need to raise interest rates further to ensure inflation is contained.

Focus now shifts to a report on the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, to be released on Thursday, and non-farm payrolls data due on Friday.

“The fact that Powell didn’t come out and say anything particularly hawkish or particularly unnerving to markets – that has proven to make this a bit of a risk-on day, even if he wasn’t outright dovish either,” said Ross Mayfield, Investment Strategy Analyst at Baird.

Megacap stocks rose, with gains in Nvidia (NVDA.O) and Meta Platforms (META.O).

3M (MMM.N) jumped after a report that the conglomerate has tentatively agreed to pay more than $5.5 billion to resolve over 300,000 lawsuits claiming it sold the U.S. military defective combat earplugs.

Goldman Sachs (GS.N) gained after the lender struck a deal to sell an investment advisory business to wealth management firm Creative Planning LLC.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 27.49 points, or 0.62%, to end at 4,433.20 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) gained 114.49 points, or 0.84%, to 13,705.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 212.29 points, or 0.62%, to 34,559.19.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies including JD.com , Baidu and Alibaba rose after China halved the stamp duty on stock trading effective Monday to boost its ailing market.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo discussed concerns about restrictions on American businesses including Intel (INTC.O) and Micron (MU.O) with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. Micron’s and Intel’s shares gained for much of the session.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission suspended its challenge of Amgen’s (AMGN.O) $27.8 billion purchase of Horizon Therapeutics (HZNP.O). Horizon’s shares rose.

 

    Source:
  • Reuters