PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened slightly higher on Friday, supported by the prospect of a drastic cut in key interest rates in the United States next week.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 0.25% to 41,205.02 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.16% to 5,605.99 points.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.04% to 17,574.82 points.
Traders are now more widely anticipating a 50 basis point cut in the federal funds rate after the US Federal Reserve’s meeting on September 17-18, according to CME’s FedWatch barometer, which puts this probability at 43% compared to 13% on Thursday.
Former New York Fed President Bill Dudley said there was a good case for lowering borrowing costs by half a percentage point, rather than just a quarter point as previously anticipated.
The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, meanwhile, reported that the Fed’s rate decision is now “very tight,” with some central bank officials worried about keeping rates high for too long as inflation and employment slow.
“Several articles appeared in the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times suggesting that a 50 basis point move was still in play, leading markets to reassess their expectations once again,” Deutsche Bank analysts wrote.
In the bond market, the yield on ten-year Treasury bonds fell by around 2.5 basis points to 3.6532%, and the more sensitive two-year yield fell by 7.2 points to 3.5762%.
In stocks, Boeing fell 1.5% after workers on the West Coast, where its main factories are located, voted to hold a massive strike.
Adobe fell 9.5% after the Photoshop maker announced on Thursday that it expected a profit for the current quarter that was lower than analysts’ forecasts, while Oracle gained 3.87% after raising its financial forecasts.
Moderna fell 4.6%, the victim of a downgrade from at least three intermediaries, the day after the laboratory postponed the achievement of its financial balance target.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.
