Wall Street on the rise pending Powell’s speech

by Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Wednesday, as chipmakers and the financial industry took the S & P-500 and Nasdaq to closing records, as investors await Jerome Powell’s speech Friday to ensure the timing of the US Federal Reserve’s tapering.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.11%, or 39.24 points, to 35,405.50 points.

The larger S & P-500 gained 9.96 points, or 0.22%, to 4,496.19 points.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 22.06 points (0.15%) to 15,041.86 points.

With the virtual absence of negative catalysts, investors favored risk-taking, pushing up the three main Wall Street indices, despite uncertainties about the evolution of US economic growth and the ‘tapering’ of the Fed.

The US central bank is likely to remain accommodative, said Oliver Pursche, vice chairman of Wealthspire Advisors in New York, also noting the strength of quarterly results and upward corporate forecasts.

“If consumer confidence deteriorated in July, there is a belief that consumers will continue to push things forward,” he added.

The higher yield on US Treasuries benefited the rate-sensitive financial sector, while sectors expected to fully benefit from the economic rebound, such as semiconductors and transportation, also posted gains.

The latest economic data in the United States has reinforced the idea that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell should not indicate an anticipated tightening of support measures by the US central bank when he speaks Friday at 2 p.m. GMT in the occasion of the Jackson Hole Symposium in Wyoming.

In terms of values, Nvidia and Applied Materials finished higher, as did major technology stocks like Alphabet, Tesla and Facebook, which carried the Nasdaq.

Nordstrom tumbled 17.6% after posting Tuesday night quarterly revenue down 6% from its pre-health crisis level.

* Reminder of the session in Europe: [.EUFR]

* TO BE CONTINUED THURSDAY:

(French version Jean Terzian)