U.S. Stocks Rise as Waller Comments Weigh on Yields, Ease Rate Fears
U.S. stocks rose after comments from a Federal Reserve official took the sting out of rising oil prices by suppressing Treasury yields.
On Thursday, September 4, US stocks experienced a sharp rise as Wall Street investors reduced their expectations for interest rate hikes following a statement from US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller. Waller expressed his support for keeping the Fed funds target rate steady if data indicated that inflationary pressures were decreasing.
The three major US stock indices - the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite - all closed at least 1% higher, with the Nasdaq benefiting from the strong performance of AI-related megacap stocks, collectively known as the "Magnificent Seven." The Federal Reserve's expectations for rate hikes at their September meeting were revised downward to 50.4% from 63.2% on Wednesday, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
US Treasury yields retreated for the second consecutive session following reaching their highest level since November 2023. The rally in stocks was attributed to Waller's remarks, which eased concerns about rate hikes, and positive economic reports, including low jobless claims and an acceleration in the service sector. However, services input prices hit their highest level since October 2022, and the international trade deficit expanded by 24.4%.
Among individual stocks, Nvidia rose 1.8% after announcing the acquisition of developer platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, while chipmaker Broadcom fell 2.7% after reporting weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue.
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