Fresh U.S. Data Seen as Potential Reason for Less Rate Cuts
March 28, 2024
LIVE MARKETS-What if the PCE price index comes in hot?
March 28, 2024Wall Street came out of three sessions of decline on Wednesday to finish sharply higher, with the S&P 500 narrowly setting a new record in a moderately active market as the long Easter weekend approaches.
The Dow Jones index ended with a jump of 1.22% to 39,760.08 points. The Nasdaq, with its strong technological coloring, came within two points of its last peak, gaining 0.51% to 16,399.52 points. As for the broader S&P 500 index, it managed to surpass its last peak thanks to an increase of 0.86%, to 5,248.49 points.
This is the twenty-first peak since the start of the year for the most representative index of the American market.
Wall Street will be closed at the end of the week for Good Friday and trading was “moderately” heavy on Wednesday, said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital.
“There was no macroeconomic news on Wednesday,” continued the analyst, adding that the deadline for the month and the quarter which falls on Thursday, led investors to “clean up their balance sheets”.
On the bond market, yields on Treasury bills – which move in the opposite direction to the bond price – fell significantly to 4.18% for ten-year bonds compared to 4.23% the day before.
There were “rebalancings” also linked to the end of the month and the quarter on the bond securities side, also explained Karl Haeling of LBBW.
On the indicator side, data publications resume on Thursday with a final revision of US GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2023 and especially on Friday with inflation, according to the PCE index, the Fed’s favorite measure, and the consumer spending.
On the value front, Apple regained strength (+2.12% to $173.31) while the stock suffered particularly after the announcement of prosecutions by the American government for monopolistic practices on the iPhone.
In processors and semiconductors, while Nvidia fell 2.50% to $902, its competitors gained ground such as Intel (+4.24%) and AMD (+0.97%).
Merck laboratories climbed 4.96% after receiving the green light from American health regulators for a drug active in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension.
Former US President Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), which oversees the social network Truth Social, once again took off for its second session on the Nasdaq. “DJT” securities, which recall Donald Trump’s initials, climbed 14.19% to $66.22.
The social network Reddit, on the other hand, which was listed on the stock market last week, experienced its first session of decline, falling by 11.30%.
Online brokerage platform Robinhood gained 3.79% to $20 as the market welcomed the platform’s launch of a credit card.
GameStop, a readily viral and highly volatile stock, fell 15% to $13.17 as the video game store chain reduced its payroll as its sales declined in the fourth quarter.
