US close: Modest gains on Wall Street as Fed stands pat on rates
Wall Street started the new month with modest gains on Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve stood pat on interest rates after a number of fresh economic readings earlier in the day.
Dow Jones I.A.
38,886.17
04:30 15/10/20
Nasdaq 100
19,021.19
12:15 06/06/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.25% at 23,435.01, the S&P 500 was ahead 0.16% at 2,579.36 and the Nasdaq 100 was flat, gaining just 0.09 points to 6,238.65.
Earlier, the central bank kept its interest rate target at between 1% and 1.25%, although its statement after the latest two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting remained upbeat about the state of the US economy.
In the immediate aftermath, markets were still picking a rate hike in December - it would be its third this year.
“[The] labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a solid rate despite hurricane-related disruptions,” the statement read.
“Although the hurricanes caused a drop in payroll employment in September, the unemployment rate declined further.”
While the central bank did leave the door open for a December hike, it did not make its intentions overtly clear in its statement.
“Even the Fed’s very gradual shift to raising interest rates could ultimately present a challenge to financial markets,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“History shows that two things make bull markets - leverage and liquidity - and that too much of the former and not enough of the latter finally make for a bear market.
“There is currently no shortage of leverage - debt - in the system, not least as global borrowing is more than a third higher than it was at the start of the Great Financial Crisis, at $217trn, according to data from the Institute of International Finance.”
Investors were earlier keeping an eye out for Trump's tax reform bill, which was meant to be released on Wednesday but had been pushed back a day to resolve unknown issues.
On the economic front, the widely-followed ISM manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index slipped a tad more than expected in October, printing at 58.7, which was down from 60.8 for the previous month and falling short of consensus expectations for 59.1.
According to ADP/Moody's, private sector payrolls rose by 235,000 in October, well ahead of market forecasts for 190,000, helped in part by reconstruction efforts in the wake of the recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast.
In corporate news, auto manufacturers were in focus, with GM having posted a 2% drop in sales to 252,813 units alongside 13% fewer vehicles sold by Fiat, although Ford reported a 6.4% increase.
Sector wide estimates for the month of October were due out later on Wednesday.
Shares of United States Steel Corporation were also in the spotlight, jumping 7.82% in the wake of better-than-expected quarterly numbers out overnight which helped to quell concerns around the company on the back of rival AK Steel's latest set of figures published the day before.
Investors were eyeing the first move by the nation's retailers to position ahead of Black Friday, as the day after the Thanksgiving holiday - which 'officially' marks the start of the holiday shopping season - is called with Amazon.com and eBay unveiling their plans for the critical quarter.
Stock of Clorox was also in the green by 1.18% after its fiscal first-quarter earnings beat analysts' estimates, while Estee Lauder shares were rocketing 9.22% as the cosmetics maker's first-quarter financials surpassed analysts' forecasts.
Allergan was 4.15% higher in New York after the biotech concern posted third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $4.15 versus consensus expectations of $4.04, while Molson Coors was up just 0.2% as the brewer reported third-quarter adjusted EPS in line with expectations and said full-year targets are unchanged.
Dow Jones - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $46.71 2.68%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $34.62 1.38%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $99.03 1.25%
Visa Inc. (V) $111.07 0.99%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $133.47 0.77%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $244.26 0.73%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $87.94 0.72%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $86.89 0.64%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $83.87 0.62%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.26 0.57%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $166.89 -1.27%
General Electric Co. (GE) $20.02 -0.69%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $45.80 -0.39%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $209.53 -0.33%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $166.37 -0.32%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $165.38 -0.24%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $47.83 -0.08%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $154.03 -0.02%
3M Co. (MMM) $230.18 -0.00%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $83.18 -0.00%
S&P 500 - Risers
Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $122.12 9.22%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $27.30 7.82%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $39.08 5.91%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $89.88 5.68%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $59.80 5.64%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $5.85 5.41%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $53.46 4.80%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $14.87 4.57%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $57.21 4.36%
Allergan plc (AGN) $184.57 4.15%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $8.86 -26.84%
Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI) $11.40 -17.03%
CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) $17.85 -6.00%
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (ZBH) $115.13 -5.37%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $114.47 -4.29%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $13.55 -4.04%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $12.05 -3.75%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $105.15 -3.43%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $125.52 -3.02%
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $68.71 -3.02%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $89.88 5.68%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $53.46 4.80%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class A (LILA) $22.61 4.10%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class C (LILAK) $22.73 3.32%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $36.85 3.19%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $24.78 3.12%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $151.55 2.75%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $46.71 2.68%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $47.84 2.18%
CA Inc. (CA) $32.93 1.70%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $103.01 -12.49%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $107.96 -4.67%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $114.47 -4.29%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $159.24 -4.17%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $105.15 -3.43%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $321.08 -3.15%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $125.52 -3.02%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $116.06 -3.01%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $65.49 -3.01%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $73.54 -2.81%