Wall Street equities broke a three-day skid, ending higher on Wednesday (Aug 24) as traders looked through mixed data to buy shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to finish the day at 32,969.23.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 4,140.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.4% to end at 12,431.53, Reuters reported.
The S&P 500 lost ground in the previous three sessions after a summer rally was halted by growing concerns of an aggressive stance by the Fed, an energy crisis in Europe and signs of economic slowdown in China.
But investors remain focused on a speech on Friday by the US central bank chief at the Jackson Hole policy conference in Wyoming, hoping – but perhaps no longer expecting – to hear hints of a coming respite in aggressive interest rate increases.
With inflation still at a 40-year high, economists and Federal Reserve (Fed) officials have stressed that the benchmark lending rate will continue to rise.
“The market is biding its time to get more information on the most important things, which are inflation and the Fed’s rate path,“ said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.
Oanda analyst Edward Moya said the “Fed still has a lot of tightening to do”.
“Today’s rebound is small and on light volume, which means most traders are playing the waiting game until Fed chair Powell’s Jackson Hole Symposium speech,” he said.
“Powell’s fight against inflation might send the US economy into a recession late next year, but for now he needs to stick to the hawkish script.”
What data there was did not push traders one way or another: a further drop in mortgage applications last week, which fell to a 22-year low, as well as another decline in pending home sales, confirmed the housing market is slowing due to rising borrowing costs and high prices.
And July orders for big-ticket manufactured goods were flat, but some components showed continued strength in demand.
A key inflation report on Friday ahead of Powell’s speech, which is expected to show a sharp slowing of price increases in July, could provide more of an impetus, however. – Reuters, AFP
