by On Wednesday, Wall Street closed the day higher, thanks to a gain in energy stocks and Intuit. As far as investors are concerned, they were focused on the conference of the US Federal Reserve this week in Jackson Hole.
Market gains
There was an almost 4% rally in Intuit Inc., which gave the tech-heavy Nasdaq a boost after an upbeat revenue forecast for fiscal 2023 was posted by the accounting software maker.
There was a 5.5% dip in Salesforce Inc. after the bell because of its quarterly report. There had been a 2.3% gain in the business software seller during the trading session.
There was a rise in all of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 index, with energy leading the race after a 1.2% rise and real estate coming second with a gain of 0.71%.
The previous three sessions had seen the benchmark S&P 500 index lose some ground after a summer rally had come to a halt because of rising concerns about the Fed’s aggressive stance.
Signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy and the European energy crisis had only added to the worries.
Fed in focus
The focus of the investors is now on the symposium in Jackson Hole, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday.
On Friday, Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Fed is scheduled to speak, and his remarks are expected to provide clues of future rate hikes and whether the economy would see a soft landing or not.
Analysts said that the market was waiting to obtain more information about important matters like inflation and the rate path of the US Fed.
There is a division amongst traders about the extent of the rate hike, with some favoring an increase of 50 basis points, while others believe that a 75 basis points increase is more likely.
Other factors
The latest announcement from President Joe Biden said that $10,000 in student loans would be forgiven by the US government for many college-goers concerned about debt.
This move is intended to give Democrats a boost in the congressional elections scheduled in November, but there is a possibility that it could worsen inflation.
The S&P 500 has made a recovery of 13% so far from its lows reached in mid-June, thanks to stronger-than-expected corporate results.
It is expected that the benchmark index will end the year a little above its existing level. A 0.29% gain was recorded in the S&P 500 index, which ended the session at 4,140.77.
A 0.41% gain in the Nasdaq Composite saw it reach 12,431.53 points, while a 0.18% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average took it to 32,969.23 points.
There was a more than 20% rise in Peloton Interactive, after the announcement of the stationary bike firm about selling its products on Amazon in order to give its declining sales a boost.
A 20% drop was recorded in Nordstrom Inc. after the retailer slashed its forecasts for annual profits and revenues. This shows that inflation is taking its toll on consumer spending on footwear and clothing.
