Wall Street closes higher underpinned by defensive sectors By Reuters

–

By Sinéad Carew

NEW YORK, Sep 2 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 rose on Wednesday for the ninth time in the past ten sessions on the back of momentum from the defensive and value sectors, following data that showed U.S. private payrolls expanded last month but at a much lower rate than expected.

* Market indexes gained ground in the afternoon and reached session highs in the last hour of trading.

* The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book showed a modest increase in US business activity and a rise in employment in late August, although economic growth remains sluggish in parts of the country.

* He approached its all-time highs on February 12, being 1.6% below that mark, while the Nasdaq – with great weight of technology – advanced less significantly on Wednesday, although it closed the session almost 23% above its pre-crisis record.

* While much of the rally from March lows has been driven by backing from the Federal Reserve, Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest, said investors may still be taking in last week’s central bank announcement indicating continued support.

* “What you see is a kind of rotation after the big day yesterday (Tuesday),” said Bell. “Unless you really think the technology is going to crash completely, it can take a breather and allow some of the other cyclical and value-oriented sectors to take over for a while.”

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 454.84 points, or 1.59%, to 29,100.5 units and the S&P 500 added 54.19 points, or 1.54%, to 3,580.84 units. He gained 116.78 points, or 0.98%, to 12,056.44 units.

* By comparison, the S&P value index rose 1.8%, while the growth index increased 1.4%.

* The defensive basic services, consumer discretionary and real estate sectors, which have lagged the overall market this year, were some of the biggest winners among the major S&P sectors on Wednesday, gaining between 2% and slightly more than 3%. Health stocks closed up 2%.

* Finance, a value sector that has also underperformed this year, closed 1.5% higher.

* Private employers increased hiring last month from July, according to the ADP report, but far from economists’ forecast. The market now awaits official August employment figures to be released on Friday.

(Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Additional reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco, Medha Singh and Devik Jain in Bengaluru, Edited in Spanish by Manuel Farías)

–