Stock market today: Wall Street rises to send S&P 500 back toward record
Stocks are ticking higher and helping Wall Street erase its losses from earlier in the week
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are ticking higher Thursday, helping Wall Street to erase its losses from earlier in the week.
The S&P 500 was 0.7% higher in early trading and just above its record close set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 205 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% higher.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to testify again on Capitol Hill about interest-rate policy, but the expectation is for him to just echo what he said a day before: The Federal Reserve will likely cut its main interest rate this year, after jacking it up to its highest level since 2001, but it first needs to see additional data showing inflation is cooling.
It’s a key point on Wall Street because cuts to rates would release pressure on the economy and the financial system. Traders have already shelved earlier forecasts for cuts to begin in March, and they’re now thinking June is the likeliest starting point.
Treasury yields eased in the bond market after a couple reports gave potential signals of lessened pressure on inflation, which could help convince the Fed it’s heading toward rate cuts.
One report said slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, though the number remains low relative to history.
A separate report said U.S. workers were able to produce even more stuff per hour during the last three months of 2023 than expected. Such improvement is key because it can allow the economy to grow without adding as much upward pressure on inflation.
Across the Atlantic, traders were also trying to guess when the European Central Bank will begin
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