US stocks rise ahead of Powell speech; Salesforce shines, Foot Locker falls
Investing.com -- US stocks rose Wednesday with focus turning to an upcoming address by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for more cues on interest rates.
At 09:40 ET (14:40 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275 points, or 0.6%, the S&P 500 index gained 17 points, or 0.3%, and the NASDAQ Composite rose 112 points, or 0.6%. Powell address awaited for more rate cues
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak later Wednesday, potentially offering up more cues on the central bank’s plans for interest rates.
His address comes just weeks before the Fed’s final meeting for 2024, where the central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points.
But the long term outlook for rates has turned uncertain, especially amid recent signs of inflation remaining above target. The prospect of protectionist trade policies under President-elect Donald Trump, which could entail more import tariffs, also sparked concerns over inflation in the long term.
Trump recently threatened higher tariffs against a slew of countries, including the BRICs bloc, Canada, and Mexico.
Goldman Sachs analysts said in a recent note they expect tariffs to delay inflation from falling to the Fed’s 2% target.
Beyond Powell’s address, focus this week is also on nonfarm payrolls data for November, due on Friday.
Data released earlier Wednesday showed US private payrolls growth slowed in November, raising hopes of another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month.
Private payrolls rose by 146,000 jobs last month, after advancing by a downwardly revised 184,000 in October, the ADP National Employment Report showed.
Economists had forecast private employment increasing by 166,000 positions after a previously reported gain of 233,000 in October. Salesforce soars after Q3
There are more quarterly earnings to digest Wednesday.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM ) stock soared almost 10% after the cloud-based software company beat third-quarter revenue expectations and raised the lower end of its annual revenue forecast, helped by robust spending on its enterprise cloud portfolio.
Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR ) stock rose 2% after the discount retailer reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded expectations, driven by strong same-store sales growth across its major brands.
Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA ) stock soared over 3% after the digital identity verification firm reported a third-quarter profit versus a year-ago loss, with 15% of its bookings coming from new products.
Foot Locker (NYSE:FL ) stock slumped 18% after the footwear retailer cut its annual earnings and sales forecasts as its fiscal third quarter disappointed on softer consumer spending trends. Crude edges higher ahead of OPEC+ meeting
Crude prices rose Wednesday, boosted by heightened geopolitical tensions as well as the prospect of OPEC+ extending supply cuts against weaker demand.
By 09:40 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) climbed 0.1% to $69.98 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.1% to $73.69 a barrel.
Concerns over the brittle state of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, South Korea's curtailed declaration of martial law as well as prolonged fighting in Syria and Ukraine have all lent support to oil prices.
Some momentum was stalled during the previous session by industry data showing an unexpected increase in US oil inventories , but eyes are turning to a meeting of major producers on Thursday.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, postponed Sunday’s meeting to discuss production levels until Thursday, providing more time for delegates to agree to a further delay in plans to increase production.
OPEC+ has been looking to gradually phase out supply cuts through next year, but the group has become concerned that weak demand and an increase in supply in 2025 will see prices slump sharply.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
Source: Investing.com
