NEW YORK (AP) — The stock rose sharply in Friday morning trading on Wall Street, adding to the weekly gains of major indices.
The S&P 500 was up 0.7% at 10:19am ET, with nearly 85% of the benchmark index stocks up. They are making good progress towards their 4-week winning streak for the first time since last year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 127 points (0.4%) to 33,463, while the Nasdaq rose 1.1%.
Technology and telecommunications stocks had the biggest gains. Chipmaker Nvidia rose his 3.1%, while Facebook’s parent company Meta rose his 1.7%.
A 2.5% drop in US oil prices has left energy companies lagging behind the market. Hess fell 1.1%.
Trading was choppy through most of the week, but major indices posted a sharp gain on Wednesday after reports showed inflation fell more than expected last month.
The Fed’s fight to contain inflation remains a priority on Wall Street. Investors hoped for a rebound from the highest inflation in 40 years, and shares rose on Wednesday after the Labor Department’s encouraging report on consumer prices.
The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) has been raising interest rates in hopes of slowing the economy and keeping inflation under control, but investors fear the Fed may brake too aggressively and slow down the economy. are at risk of recession. The weaker-than-expected CPI boosted investors’ hopes that inflation was nearing a peak and that the Fed could hold back rate hikes.
Inflation at the wholesale level also softened more than economists expected last month, according to Thursday’s report. Consumer sentiment is stronger than economists expected, according to a University of Michigan study on Friday.
That said, inflation is still painfully high and the Fed will likely continue to raise rates until prices peak and ease. The Fed’s last two rate hikes were 0.75 percentage points. Traders now see about a 60% chance that the central bank will raise the overnight rate by 0.5% at its next meeting.
Yields on 10-year government bonds fell to 2.86% from 2.88% late Thursday. That’s below the 2-year yield of 3.25%. Some investors see it as a credible signal that a recession is imminent, and the economy has already contracted for two consecutive quarters.
Wall Street will get more economic details next week when the Department of Commerce releases its July retail sales report and retail giant Walmart releases its latest financial results.
Investors can also get a report on July home sales and the latest earnings from Home Depot to gauge the health of the housing market.
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