Indices rally with eyes on Fed meeting – New York Report
US stocks rose by more than one per cent yesterday after data showed healthy growth in consumer spending.
However, this did little to remove uncertainty about whether the Federal Reserve will end seven years of near-zero interest rates when it meets on Thursday.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 228.89 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 16,599.85, the S&P 500 gained 25.06 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 1,978.09 and the Nasdaq Composite added 54.76 points, or 1.14 per cent, to 4,860.52.
“I think the market’s just kind of drifting around a little bit,” said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. “The volume’s so light, I think it’s the path of least resistance. There’s less selling pressure on a given day because of the Fed coming out.”
Caterpillar led the index higher, adding more than 2.5 per cent, while Walt Disney slipped, down 0.3 per cent.
All 10 major S&P sectors were up, with the industrials index’s 1.68 per cent gain leading advancers and GE rising 2.14 per cent.
Microsoft jumped 2.18 per cent, making the biggest single contribution to the S&P’s rally. The financial index rose 1.65 per cent, led by JPMorgan’s 2.15 per cent rise.
Shares of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles rose 3.42 per cent. The United Auto Workers union said it will keep talking with the vehicle maker to reach a new contract for the firm’s US factory workers, delaying a possible strike at its most profitable operations. Gray Television jumped 13.29 per cent after the broadcaster said it would buy Schurz Communications’ television and radio stations for $442.5m (£288.4m).