NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks ended with solid gains on Monday (Sept 12), continuing the upswing last week that snapped a three-week losing streak.
Investors are looking ahead to a critical release today (Sept 13) on US consumer prices, followed by Thursday’s report on retail sales – the last major data ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate move next week.
While inflation is expected to have eased in August, largely due to falling petrol prices, it seems unlikely it will be enough to stave off a third consecutive three-quarter point rate increase from the Fed.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7% to finish the day at 32,381.34, the fourth straight gain.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 1.1% to 4,110.41, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.3% to 12,266.41
Equities have been volatile in recent weeks amid alternate hopes and fears about whether the Fed might ease up on its aggressive rate hikes in the near future. Fed officials have ended the debate, saying while the increases may become smaller the benchmark lending rate will not be coming down anytime soon.
Among individual companies, Bristol-Myers Squibb rose 3.1% after announcing positive clinical results on a treatment for plaque psoriasis. – AFP
While inflation is expected to have eased in August, it seems unlikely it will be enough to stave off a third consecutive three-quarter point rate increase from the Federal Reserve. – Reuterspix.
