US stocks rose in morning trading as Wall Street looks to build on its recent winning streak.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5 per cent in morning trading on Wednesday. The Dow Jones gained 229 points, or 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq added 0.5 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is set to advance, with futures at 5.04am AEDT pointing to a rise of 32 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.8 per cent on Wednesday. The Australian dollar was trading at US65.14¢.
Wall Street’s bright week has continued.Credit: AP
Dell Technologies rose 2.3 per cent after saying it has received record orders for its artificial intelligence servers. Dell and other technology companies had fallen earlier in the month as investors worried the prices for their stocks had gotten too frothy amid the frenzy over AI. Nvidia, the market’s most valuable company, rose 2.5 per cent.
Urban Outfitters joined a host of other retailers this week in reporting earnings that exceeded Wall Street forecasts, and its shares jumped 11.7 per cent.
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On the downside, shares of Deere dropped nearly 4 per cent after the farm equipment company issued a downbeat forecast, citing pressure from tariffs.
Stocks have risen for three straight days as comments from Federal Reserve officials have given traders more confidence the central bank will again cut interest rates at its meeting in December. Traders are betting on a nearly 83 per cent probability that the Fed will cut next month, according to data from CME Group.
The Fed is facing an increasingly difficult decision on interest rates as inflation rises and the job market slows. Cutting interest rates further could help support the economy as employment weakens, but it could also fuel inflation. The latest round of corporate earnings reports was mostly positive, but economic data has been mixed.
The latest economic data shows Americans bought less from US retailers in September than economists expected and are growing more anxious about the economy. The Fed and Wall Street are also playing catch-up with government reports on the economy suspended during the government shutdown.
