U.S. stocks are rising on hopes for a pause on rate hikes
Investing.com — U.S. stocks were gaining on Wednesday despite weaker than expected economic data as investors looked toward Friday's job report for August.
At 9:45 ET (13:45 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 102 points or 0.3% while the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and the Nasdaq was up 0.1%.
Wall Street’s main indices closed with strong gains Tuesday, the third consecutive winning session, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rising over almost 300 points, or 0.9%, while the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 1.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite 1.7%.
Tuesday’s gains followed the release of data which showed employers reported fewer than expected job openings, a sign that there might be some loosening in the tight labor market.
This boosted the hopes of investors that the Federal Reserve will end its rate-hiking cycle as soon as its next meeting in September, as economic growth slows and inflation is reined in.
The widely-watched official jobs report for August is due out on Friday, but ahead of it was the ADP private payrolls report, which showed employers added a fewer than expected 177,000 jobs in August. In July, the ADP report said 312,000 jobs were added.
Additionally, the second reading of the latest GDP data showed the economy grew at a slower than expected 2.1% pace from the first quarter. Analysts had expected a gain of 2.4% in the second quarter.
The economic news out of Europe, a major trading region for the biggest U.S. companies, was pretty dire Wednesday.
Inflation rose in four of six key German states in August, casting doubt on a continuation of a national downward trend in the eurozone’s most important economy, and increasing the pressure on the European Central Bank to continue hiking
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