Dow Rises as Fears of Rate Hikes Subside - InvestingChannel

Dow Rises as Fears of Rate Hikes Subside

The Dow Jones Industrial average rallied more than 200 points and the S&P 500 touched a fresh 13-month high as investors bet the Federal Reserve was close to done raising rates after the central bank this week paused its rate-hiking campaign following 10 consecutive increases.

The 30-stock index leaped 220.82 points to commence trading at 34,200.15.

The S&P 500 climbed 22.53 points to 4,395.12.

The NASDAQ index took on 61.72 points to 13,688.19.

In tech, shares of Microsoft and Oracle were higher with gains above 1%. Alibaba stock climbed 2.5%.

Additional economic data releases Thursday morning gave investors and policymakers better insight on the strength of the labor market and consumer spending. Weekly jobless claims numbers were slightly above estimates at 262,000 compared to a Dow Jones estimate of 245,000, while retail sales ticked up 0.3%.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during a post-meeting press conference that the Federal Open Market Committee would use the six weeks until its next meeting to “take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy.” He added that a decision on July’s policy move has not yet been made. The upswing on Thursday shows investors remain willing to place bets on the overhang of uncertainty heading into the July FOMC meeting.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury spiked, dropping yields to 3.71% from Wednesday’s 3.80%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices recovered $1.02 to $69.29 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices faded 50 cents to $1,968.40 U.S. an ounce.

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