Stock Market Today: S&P 500 ends higher after Powell reinforces rate-cut hopes
Investing.com-- The S&P 500 closed higher Wednesday, as the rally in tech returned following weakness a day earlier after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reinforced expectations that interest rate cuts were coming later in the year.
At 16:00 ET (21:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 75 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.6%.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in prepared remarks ahead of his testimony that the central bank expects to reduce its benchmark interest rate later this year.
During the question-and-answer session with House Financial Services Committee members, the Fed chief said that the central bank could afford to approach rate cuts «carefully» because of the strength in the economy and labor market, but expects the Fed will reach confidence to cut «sometime this year.»
«Overall, we would not call Powell's remarks dovish, but if his word choice was intentional then the bar to reducing rates does not appear exceptionally high. In our view, it is reasonable to keep June as the base case for the first policy rate cut,» BofA Securities U.S. Economist Michael Gapen commented.
On the economic front, data continued to show a strong labor market a job openings rose more than expected in January, though the economy created fewer private jobs than expected. The Nonfarm payrolls data due on Friday is set to provide more cues on that front.
Tech was back in the ascendency, pushing the broader market higher as recent dip in chip stocks attracted dip buyers, with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM), and Wolfspeed Inc (NYSE:WOLF) among the biggest gainers.
Taiwan Semiconductor
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