Stocks edge higher this week, extending Wall Street’s rally

Major indices slipped in the green due to delay in buying.

As of 3:19 p.m., the S&P 500 was up 0.4%, having been down 1.8% in the opening round.

The benchmark index is coming off its best two-day rally since the spring of 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 119 points, or 0.4%, at 30,436 and the Nasdaq was up 0.2%.

The broader market is still suffering from its collapse in September, but investors are hoping that signs of a softer economy could convince central banks to halt their aggressive interest rate hikes.

wall Street The company is also preparing for the next round of earnings reports to better understand how the hardest inflation in four decades is squeezing businesses and consumers.

Technology and health care stocks helped prop up the market. Oracle rose 1.7%, Exxon Mobil 4.7% and AbbVie 1.3%.

Losses in banks, utilities and other sectors have held back market gains. Bank of America dropped 1.4% and Duke Energy 2.4%.

Shares of the smaller company declined, sending the Russell 2000 Index 0.7% lower.

Treasury yields rose after several days of respite and put more pressure on stocks.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and many other types of loans, rose to 3.76% from 3.61% late Tuesday.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for the Federal Reserve’s action, rose to 4.13% from 4.10% late Monday.

Energy stocks edged higher as US crude oil prices rose 1.4%.

The OPEC+ cartel of the oil-exporting countries decided to sharply cut production to support the fall in oil prices. Exxon Mobil rose 4.8%.

Higher energy prices, especially for gasoline, were a major reason for the increase in inflation at the start of the year.

Extremely hot inflation remains a big focus for Wall Street, despite easing energy costs over the past few months.

The Fed and other central banks are raising interest rates to make lending more difficult and slow economic growth, but Wall Street is concerned that a possible solution to high inflation could result in a recession.

Investors are looking for signs that the economy is slowing enough to give central banks a reason to ease rate hikes.

Some of the signs this week include an increase in the tamer rate by Australia’s central bank and a US report that showed the number of available jobs declined in August.

“We’ve heard about companies reducing the number of jobs available when they’re not laying off people,” said Sam Stovall, CFRA’s chief investment strategist.

“Therefore, higher rates and higher inflation are certainly taking their toll on hiring.”

Employment has been a particularly strong sector of the economy and any signs that the hot job market is cooling could mean inflation could follow.

Analysts have said such expectations may be premature. A report on US job growth at private employers turned stronger than expected on Wednesday, as did a report on the services sector.

wall Street Will take a more detailed look at employment in the US on Friday with the government’s monthly jobs report for September.

Stocks are “in the middle of a tug of war between reality and expectations,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management.

The reality is that inflation remains hot, while markets expect it to peak and the Fed will rest on a rate hike, he said.

Trading is likely to remain volatile due to the hanging of that dynamic and other uncertainties in the market.

“We need time to show the inflation momentum under control,” he said.

The Fed has said it is determined to continue raising interest rates until it is satisfied that inflation is under control.

This resolution has been echoed by some central banks globally.

New Zealand’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 3.5%, saying inflation is too high, recently 7.3% and labor is scarce.

The half-point rate hike was the fifth consecutive hike by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand since February.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.