Final near the highs of the day for Wall Street with a technological boost

Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq technology booming by almost 2% as investors adjusted their monetary policy outlook in the months following the latest statements by senior officials. of the Federal Reserve.

In a speech yesterday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell expressed concern about the course of inflation, reiterating his commitment that the central bank will take the necessary action to bring prices under control.

“If we conclude that it is necessary to move more aggressively by raising interest rates by more than 25 basis points in one or more sessions, we will do so,” Mr Powell said on Monday. The comments come less than a week after the first rate hike by the US Federal Reserve since 2018.

On the same wavelength are the statements of the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, James Boulard, who estimated that the tightening of monetary policy in the US should move quickly to stop the upward pressure on already high inflation.

“The Fed needs to be more aggressive in controlling inflation,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg.

For her part, the head of the San Francisco Fed, Mary Daly, stressed that “inflation is too high”, adding that “it is time to abandon the easing position [της νομισματικής πολιτικής]”.

Indicators – Statistics

On the board, the Dow Jones gained 254.47 points or 0.74% and closed at 34,807.46 points, while the broader S&P 500 added 50.43 points or 1.13% to 4,511.61 points. The technology Nasdaq climbed 270.36 points or 1.95% to 14,108.82 points.

Of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones industrial average, 24 closed with a positive sign and only six with a negative. The biggest gainer was Boeing with gains of 5.14 dollars or 2.76% and closing at 191.04 dollars, followed by Nike at 133.09 dollars with an increase of 2.23% after the announcement of its results. for the third quarter of the year, which exceeded analysts’ estimates, and JPMorgan Chase with gains of 2.13% to $ 142.62.

On the other hand, the three stocks with the biggest losses were Johnson & Johnson (-0.47%), UnitedHealth Group (-0.46%) and Caterpillar (-0.45%).

Analysts and market participants have now revised upwards their expectations for the forthcoming interest rate hikes, with Goldman Sachs already forecasting a 50 basis point increase in the Fed monetary policy committee meetings in May and June.

“The odds of a 50 basis point increase are now higher,” said Jonathan Pingle, UBS’s chief economist for the United States.

The yield on the 10-year US government bond exceeded 2.37% earlier, climbing to the highest levels since May 2019.

Investors continued to watch the war in Eastern Europe on Tuesday, following remarks by US President Joe Biden that Putin was “cramped” as the war in Ukraine “swamped”.

At the same time, Russia is stepping up its air and sea attacks on Ukrainian targets, and Biden has called on US companies to step up their attention to the threat of cyber-attacks by Russia.

Goldman Sachs analysts note that markets have generally recovered from the initial shock of the Ukrainian crisis, but only commodities and the dollar have surpassed their recent highs (before February 24).

The trend of all three major stock indices is to close in March with gains, despite strong geopolitical risks and the Fed’s monetary tightening line.