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U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday as investors assessed minutes from the Fed’s September FOMC meeting and producer-price index reading that came in slightly higher than expectations. Also, treasury yields continued to retreat. All the three major indexes ended in positive territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.2% or 65.57 points to finish at 33,804.87 points.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.4% or 18.71 points, to close at 4,376.95 points. Utilities, real estate and communication services stocks were the biggest gainers.
The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) increased 1.6%, while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) rose 2%. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) gained 0.9%. Eight of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.7% or 96.83 points to end at 13,659.68 points.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 5.52% to 16.09. A total of 10 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 10.7 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.65-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.19-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
Investors Try to Assess Fed’s Next Move
Stocks rallied for the fourth straight session on Wednesday as investors digested the meetings from the Federal Reserve’s September FOMC meeting. The minutes showed that Fed officials are still unclear about the future course of the economy as inflation stays elevated.
The minutes also revealed that as the Fed remains uncertain about the nation’s economy officials have decided to take a cautious meeting-by-meeting approach to its interest rate hike policy. Investors are now trying to gauge if the minutes of the meeting were hawkish or dovish.
However, investors’ sentiment remained upbeat despite this. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield continued to fall after hitting its highest level since Oct 2007 last week. The 10-year Treasury yield retreated 5.8 basis points to settle at 4.596% on Wednesday. However, the 2-year Treasury yield rose 2.1 basis points to end around 5%.
Investors also kept a close watch on the September wholesale inflation report. The report showed that the producer price index (PPI) for September rose 0.5% month over month, higher than the consensus estimate of a rise of 0.3%. The jump was primarily driven by a rise in energy costs. However, it was down from August’s increase of 0.7%.
Core PPI, which excludes the volatile, energy and food prices, rose 0.3% in September, which came in line with expectations.
Year over year, PPI increased 2.2% in September, after increasing 2% in August. Core PPI rose 2.8% year over year after jumping 2.9% in August.
Investors are now looking forward to the consumer price index data, which is scheduled for release on Thursday.
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Stock Market News for Oct 12, 2023
U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday as investors assessed minutes from the Fed’s September FOMC meeting and producer-price index reading that came in slightly higher than expectations. Also, treasury yields continued to retreat. All the three major indexes ended in positive territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.2% or 65.57 points to finish at 33,804.87 points.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.4% or 18.71 points, to close at 4,376.95 points. Utilities, real estate and communication services stocks were the biggest gainers.
The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) increased 1.6%, while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) rose 2%. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) gained 0.9%. Eight of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.7% or 96.83 points to end at 13,659.68 points.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 5.52% to 16.09. A total of 10 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 10.7 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.65-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.19-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
Investors Try to Assess Fed’s Next Move
Stocks rallied for the fourth straight session on Wednesday as investors digested the meetings from the Federal Reserve’s September FOMC meeting. The minutes showed that Fed officials are still unclear about the future course of the economy as inflation stays elevated.
The minutes also revealed that as the Fed remains uncertain about the nation’s economy officials have decided to take a cautious meeting-by-meeting approach to its interest rate hike policy. Investors are now trying to gauge if the minutes of the meeting were hawkish or dovish.
However, investors’ sentiment remained upbeat despite this. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield continued to fall after hitting its highest level since Oct 2007 last week. The 10-year Treasury yield retreated 5.8 basis points to settle at 4.596% on Wednesday. However, the 2-year Treasury yield rose 2.1 basis points to end around 5%.
Shares of Apple Inc. ((AAPL - Free Report) ) gained 0.8%, while Microsoft Corporation ((MSFT - Free Report) ) rose 1.2%. Microsoft carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Wholesale Inflation Increases
Investors also kept a close watch on the September wholesale inflation report. The report showed that the producer price index (PPI) for September rose 0.5% month over month, higher than the consensus estimate of a rise of 0.3%. The jump was primarily driven by a rise in energy costs. However, it was down from August’s increase of 0.7%.
Core PPI, which excludes the volatile, energy and food prices, rose 0.3% in September, which came in line with expectations.
Year over year, PPI increased 2.2% in September, after increasing 2% in August. Core PPI rose 2.8% year over year after jumping 2.9% in August.
Investors are now looking forward to the consumer price index data, which is scheduled for release on Thursday.