Written by Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan
(Reuters) – Wall Street's main stock indexes rose on Thursday as recent economic reports raised the prospect of easing monetary policy later this year, while investors gave clues as to when policymakers might cut interest rates. I was waiting for
Applications for state unemployment benefits for the week ending March 30 rose to 221,000, compared with 214,000 expected by economists polled by Reuters, indicating a slowing labor market and prompting the Federal Reserve's This confirms the Federal Reserve's goal of three interest rate cuts this year.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed higher in early trading after data showed growth in the U.S. services industry slowed further in March. Statements from Federal Reserve officials, including Chairman Jerome Powell, confirmed this sentiment.
While policymakers generally agree on the possibility of a rate cut this year, Powell said the rate cut reflects “more confidence that inflation is falling sustainably” toward the Fed's 2% target. “Only in certain cases.”
“With each new announcement, investors are hoping that the statistics will support the economic slowdown and the associated Fed rate cuts,” said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management. .
Stocks fell earlier this week on several positive economic reports, including on manufacturing activity and jobs data, which cast doubt on the three rate cuts widely priced in this year.
Money markets now see a nearly 60% chance of a rate cut of at least 25 basis points in June, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Investors will be looking for further clues on monetary policy ahead of Friday's release of key nonfarm payrolls numbers, including voting voters Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester. We will be closely monitoring comments from Fed policymakers.
As of 9:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 278.08 points, or 0.71%, at 39,405.22, the S&P 500 was up 42.35 points, or 0.81%, at 5,253.84, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 159.32 points, or 0.98. Rose. %, 16,436.78.
Ten of the S&P 500's 11 major sectors rose, with information technology leading the gains with a 1.2% gain, while interest rate-sensitive real estate rose about 1%.
Most mega-growth stocks rose modestly in early trading, with Metaplatforms, Amazon.com and Nvidia up 1.2% to 3.1%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Stock Index rose 1.5%, with Micron Technology among the top gainers, rising 1.5% to a new all-time high.
Levi Strauss jumped 16.8% after the apparel maker raised its full-year profit forecast, citing savings from recent cost-cutting measures and fewer discounts.
Online furniture retailer Wayfair rose 4.4% after Evercore ISI upgraded its rating from “inline” to “outperform.”
Block fell 3.4% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the payments fintech company from “equal weight” to “underweight.”
Lamb Weston fell 12.5% after the frozen food maker lowered its full-year sales and adjusted profit outlook.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining issues 6.00 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange and 3.68 to 1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 42 new highs and 1 new low in 52 weeks, while the Nasdaq recorded 50 new highs and 17 new lows.
(Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shinjini Ganguly)
