October 11, 2023
US stocks rose for the fourth day in a row today, as traders awaited the release of the Consumer Price Index report on October 12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.57 points (0.19%), to 33,804.87. The S&P 500 gained 18.71 points (0.43%), closing at 4,376.95. The Nasdaq rose 96.83 points (0.71%), ending the day at 13,659.68.
Despite today's rally, stock prices are lower than they were in July as fears of interest rate hikes have dominated the market narrative since then. Bears expect inflation to rise faster than expected, causing the Federal Reserve to respond with more rate hikes, while bulls are more optimistic that inflation will remain under control and will not require rates to rise. interest rates rise much higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to release September inflation data tomorrow. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones have estimated that the United States experienced a 0.3% inflation rate for the month.
Minutes from the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting were released today and reveal that most members expect at least one more rate hike will be necessary this cycle, although some members disagreed with this point. majority view. All members agreed that rates should remain high until there is sufficient evidence to show that inflation is returning to 2% annually.
The 10-year and two-year US Treasury yields moved in opposite directions throughout the day. The 10-year bond fell 0.1 points, to 4.564%. The two-year old rose 0.002 points, to 4.986%. The yield curve remains inverted, which some traders see as a sign of an impending recession.
Despite the Federal Reserve's comments on interest rate increases, gold traders remained optimistic. Gold gained $13.81, reaching $1,873.56 per troy ounce.
Oil declined, with West Texas Intermediate falling $2.62 a barrel to $83.33 and Brent crude falling $2.03 a barrel to $85.62. Oil rose more than 4% on Monday as traders began to fear that new sanctions could be imposed on Iran due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. However, it began to fall to lower levels on Tuesday after Iran denied involvement in the conflict, and this decline continues today.
In the currency market, the US dollar index fell 0.1% to 105.73. The euro rose 0.1275% to 1.0622. The yen fell 0.2777%, causing the number of yen needed to buy one dollar to rise to 149.1180. Some traders expect the Bank of Japan to intervene if this figure exceeds 150.
Information for this story came from CNBC, Marketwatch, Kitco, Business Insider and MSN Money.
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