Powell sticks to a “wait and see” narrative. Wall Street is rising slightly
Major indexes on the other side of the Atlantic finished mostly higher, on a day when the focus was on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech, and on services sector data – which slowed more than expected.
The major indices on the Atlantic side closed without direction, slightly reversing the trend of the two negative sessions that marked the return after the Easter holidays. Investors were evaluating data on the services sector, which slowed more than expected in March, as well as the words of Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, who reiterated that the central bank has time to deliberate on the date of the first rate cut.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index, the benchmark for the region, added 0.11% to 5,211.49 points, the Nasdaq technology index advanced 0.23% to 16,277.46 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11% to 39,127.14 points.
Powell stressed on Wednesday that given the continued strength of the US economy and the slight increase in inflation in recent months, the Fed will maintain a “wait and see” approach as it considers the “timing” of its first interest rate cut.
Speaking to CNBC, Atlanta Fed Governor Raphael Bostic sounded more pessimistic and noted that he expects a decline in benchmark interest rates only in the fourth quarter of the year.
According to data from Reuters, traders estimate the probability of the Fed cutting interest rates by 25 basis points in June at 57%. This probability compares with 64% last week. Regarding the May meeting, it is practically certain that key interest rates will remain unchanged.
The market is also weighing comments from two Fed members, Loretta Mester, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, and Mary Daly, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, who said yesterday that it would be “reasonable” to cut interest rates three times this year. Even with the latest economic data raising doubts among investors.
Among the major market movers, Paramount Global stock jumped about 15%, after rising 17%, after Bloomberg reported that Redstone, the majority shareholder in the television and film giant, is in the process of selling its position to Skydance Media.
Intel lost 8.22%, after the company revealed operating losses worth seven billion dollars, a value higher than the 5.2 billion recorded in the previous year.
Tesla, which lost nearly 5% yesterday after revealing that first-quarter deliveries fell 8.5%, the first year-over-year decline since the second quarter of 2020, recovered 1.05% to $168.38.
Apple shares advanced 0.48%, after Bloomberg said that the technology giant has a team working on developing personal robots, a sector that has the potential to become the next “big thing” for Apple, after the failure of developing a car.
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