Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 22, 2023 in New York City, USA.
Brendan Mcdermid | Portal
Stocks rose on Tuesday, extending their November rally as comments from a Federal Reserve official raised hopes that the central bank may not need to raise interest rates further.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 87 points, or nearly 0.3%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1%.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller expressed confidence on Tuesday that policymakers are “currently well positioned” to slow the economy and bring inflation back to 2 percent. His comments come ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy meeting on December 12 and 13. Markets generally expect the committee to keep its key interest rate stable.
Boeing led the Dow with a 2% gain on Tuesday, while Dow member retailers Nike and Walmart each gained more than 1.4%. The S&P 500 got a boost from Newmont Corporation and Synchrony Financial, which rose 5.3% and 4.8%, respectively.
Shares have gained this month. The Dow and S&P 500 are on track to end the month up 7.3% and 8.7%, respectively. The Nasdaq rose 11.1% in November.
“We really haven’t moved that violently in the last few weeks, which shows to me the excitement the bond market has been in over the last three months, but really over the last three years, maybe it’s starting to calm down,” which is mine “I think it would be a good thing,” said Mark Hackett, head of investment research at Nationwide Financial.
U.S. Treasury yields fell on Tuesday, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note falling nearly 4 basis points to 4.354.
Hackett added that he remains “cautiously optimistic” about the health of consumers and their willingness to continue spending.
Tuesday’s moves follow a losing day on Wall Street. The Dow and S&P 500 each ended Monday’s session down about 0.2%, while the Nasdaq fell nearly 0.1%.
Data released Tuesday showed consumer confidence improved in November, although most still expect a recession to come. The Conference Board index rose to 102 this month, above October’s downwardly revised reading of 99.1 and above the Dow Jones estimate of 101.
As for earnings, CrowdStrike is expected to report earnings after the market closes.