Positive atmosphere on Wall Street

Key Wall Street stocks are moving upwards with investors focusing on the financial data that sees the light of day as they continue to assess the chances of the US economy slipping into recession in the coming months due to the aggressive campaign of the Federal Reserve to tackle inflation.

A major economic slowdown or recession in the coming months would pave the way for the US Federal Reserve to moderate its interest rate hikes. Most central bank officials, however, estimate that the economy will not enter a recession despite successive and aggressive interest rate hikes.

New York Fed Chairman John Williams said today that he expects the US economy to slow down amid tightening Fed monetary policy in the coming months, but added that the US can avoid a recession.

“The recession is not my main scenario right now,” Williams said in an interview with CNBC. “I think the economy is strong,” he added.

However, he estimated that growth will slow down considerably, noting that “this will be a slowdown we want to see” in order to reduce inflationary pressures.

Indicators – Statistics

On the board, the Dow Jones gained 352.72 points or 1.12% to 31,790.98 points, while the S&P 500 strengthened by 40.38 points or 1.04% to 3,940.84 points. The technology Nasdaq adds 92.96 points or 0.81% to 11,617.27 points.

Of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones industrial average, 24 are moving with a positive sign and four with a negative one. The biggest gainers were Boeing with gains of $ 6.50 or 4.69% at $ 145.22, followed by Walt Disney at $ 100.15 with gains of 3.66% and American Express with gains of 3, 24% to $ 148.96

Nike plunged 1.86% after announcing earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates, with the sportswear company, however, appearing cautious about profit margins and its course in China in the near future. Merck (-1.32%) and Salesforce (-0.57%) follow with the biggest losses.

At the end of the day, data released today showed that the US trade deficit in goods shrank 2.2% in May to $ 104.3 billion, falling for the second consecutive month after the March record.

The trade deficit reached $ 106.7 billion in April and a record $ 125.6 billion in March.

Housing data released today showed that US house prices remained on an upward trajectory in April, with increases, however, slowing down to an initial sign that upward pressures may begin to decline.

In particular, prices rose 20.4% nationally in April compared to the same month a year earlier, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller. In March, the price increase had reached 20.6%.

This is the first slowdown in prices since November last year.