US stocks rise after optimistic comments from the Fed

Note: Figures recorded at 7:25am AEDT. The closing figures and video recording will be available at 9:00am AEDT.

Stocks rose Tuesday, resuming their November rally, as comments from a Federal Reserve official raised hope that the central bank may not need to raise interest rates further.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 83.51 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 35,416.98. The S&P 500 inched higher by 0.10 per cent to 4,554.89, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.29 per cent to end the session at 14,281.76.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller had expressed confidence earlier Tuesday that policy is “currently well positioned” to slow the economy and bring inflation back to 2 percent. His commentary comes ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy meeting on Dec. 12-13. Markets generally expect the committee to keep its key lending rate steady.

Boeing helped lift the Dow on Tuesday, adding 1.4 per cent, while Dow-member retailers Nike and Walmart gained 0.7 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively. The S&P 500 got a lift from Newmont Corporation and Synchrony Financial, which were higher by 6.3 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively.

Stocks have rallied this month. The Dow and S&P 500 are on pace to finish the month 7.3 per cent and 8.7 per cent higher, respectively. The Nasdaq has climbed 11.1 per cent in November.

US Treasury yields dipped on Tuesday, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down nearly 4 basis points at 4.354.

Tuesday’s moves follow a losing day on Wall Street. The Dow and S&P 500 both finished Monday’s session around 0.2 per cent lower, while the Nasdaq inched down nearly 0.1 per cent.

Data released Tuesday showed consumer confidence improved in November, even as most still expect a recession ahead. The Conference Board’s index rose to 102 for the month, higher than a d ownwardly revised 99.1 from October and ahead of the Dow Jones estimate for 101.

On the earnings front, CrowdStrike is expected to report earnings after the bell.

In commodity-related news, oil prices increased on Tuesday as traders anticipated the possibility of OPEC implementing deeper production cuts, while Kazakhstan reduced its oil output by 56 per cent in response to storms affecting the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, contributing to the price rise.

The head of one of the world’s largest developers of clean energy said investors are on the wrong side of history as they drive a historic sell-off in renewable stocks.

Shares of companies involved in wind and solar power projects and the equipment behind them have been slammed this year as high interest rates and inflation hit their profitability.

The S&P Global Clean Energy index, which includes the 100 largest clean energy-related businesses, is down 31 per cent since the start of this year, compared to a less than 1 per cent decline for the fossil-heavy S&P 500 Energy index.

Turning to US sectors, most closed higher overnight. Consumer Discretionary was the best performer, whilst Health was the worst.

Looking ahead to the Australian landscape, the SPI futures are pointing to a 15 point rise.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.21 per cent gain.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 8:25 AM was buying 66.46 US cents.

Commodities

Gold has added 1.41 per cent. Silver has gained 1.53 per cent. Copper has gained 1.16 per cent. Oil has gained 2.02 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 0.07 per cent, Frankfurt gained 0.16 per cent, and Paris closed 0.21 per cent lower.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.12 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.98 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.23 per cent higher.

The Australian share market closed 0.39 per cent higher at 7015.22.

Ex-dividends

Civmec Limited (ASX:CVL) is paying 3 cents fully franked
Gryphon Capital (ASX:GCI) is paying 1.41 cents unfranked
GrainCorp Limited (ASX:GNC) is paying 30 cents fully franked
Infratil Limited (ASX:IFT) is paying 5.9275 cents unfranked
Kkr Credit Income Fund (ASX:KKC) is paying 1.67 cents unfranked
Liberty Fin Group (ASX:LFG) is paying 12 cents unfranked
Newmont Corporation (ASX:NEM) is paying 42.722 cents unfranked
Perpetual Cred Trust (ASX:PCI) is paying 0.6793 cents unfranked
360 Capital Mortgage (ASX:TCF) is paying 3.5 cents unfranked

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

Disclaimer

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