(ABM FN-Dow Jones) The US stock markets closed slightly higher on Wednesday.
The leading S&P 500 index rose 0.1 percent to 3,992.01 points, the Dow Jones index lost 0.2 percent at 32,798.40 points and the Nasdaq closed 0.4 percent higher at 11,576.00 points.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell drew investors’ attention again on Wednesday after he said on Tuesday that the Fed is willing to increase the pace of rate hikes if all evidence suggests faster policy tightening is warranted.
The Fed has not yet made a decision on the size of a possible rate hike later this month, Powell said before a House of Representatives committee on Wednesday.
“U.S. Treasury yields continue to rise. And, as we know, that’s not what equity investors want to see. Investors should keep a close eye on yield developments in bond markets,” said IG analyst Salah Bouhmidi.
On a macroeconomic level, it was announced on Wednesday that private sector employment in the US rose more than expected in February. The number of jobs increased by 242,000 in February from an increase of 119,000 in January against a previously reported growth of 106,000. The market expected a growth of 205,000 jobs.
Overall economic activity in the United States increased slightly in early 2023. So stated the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which was released Wednesday night. Labor market conditions were solid over the period under review, while inflationary pressures remained widespread. Going forward, contacts expected price increases to ease further in the course of the year.
The number of mortgage applications in the US rose by 7.4 percent last week. The market index rose from 187.6 to 201.5.
Exports rose 3.4 percent to $257.5 billion in January, while imports rose 3.0 percent to $325.8 billion, resulting in a US trade deficit of $68.3 billion.
In January, the number of open positions in the US was 10.8 million, up from 11.2 million in December.
The euro/dollar was quoted at 1.0547. At the start of the trading day in New York, the currency pair was still moving at 1.0553 and around the close of the American stock exchanges on Tuesday there was a level of 1.0547 on the boards.
April futures for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude closed 1.2 percent, or $0.92, lower on Wednesday at $76.66 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after the latest data from the U.S. energy agency EIA showed that the U.S. crude inventories fell last week.
On a macroeconomic level, only weekly applications for aid are on the agenda in the US on Thursday.
Company news
Campbell Soup has again raised its forecast for sales growth this fiscal year, to 8.5 to 10.0 percent, from 7 to 9 percent. The original expectation was 4 to 6 percent growth. The stock rose 1.5 percent.
CrowdStrike gained more than 3.0 percent, after better-than-expected earnings and a better-than-expected outlook.
Occidental Petroleum gained about 1.4 percent after a report that Berkshire Hathaway has bought nearly 6 million shares in the energy company in recent days. Warren Buffett’s investment firm now owns 200 million shares of Occidental worth $12.2 billion.
SoundHound AI lost about 22.5 percent premarket after a quarterly loss that was larger than a quarter earlier. Synchronoss Technologies also fell after a drop in turnover. The stock is down 13 percent premarket.
Bron: ABM Financial News
