NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks surged on Monday (Dec 12), regaining some of last week’s losses, as markets showed cautious optimism ahead of a key inflation data release and closely watched Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting.
Observers expect consumer price increases to slow in November, adding to signs that red-hot inflation is finally easing, while the US central bank is anticipated to announce a smaller interest rate increase after a two-day policy meeting starting today (Dec 13).
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 528.58 points, or 1.58%, to 34,005.04, the S&P 500 gained 56.18 points, or 1.43%, to 3,990.56 and the Nasdaq Composite added 139.12 points, or 1.26%, to 11,143.74.
“There was a lot of positive news to start the week and that helped push equities higher,“ said Edward Moya of the Oanda trading platform.
The rally marked the biggest one-day percentage gain for each of the three major indices since Nov 30, and each of the 11 major S&P sectors ended the session in positive territory.
Pfizer shares gained 0.85% after the drugmaker gave revenue forecasts from vaccines across its portfolio.
In particular, a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated that inflation expectations are coming down, while biopharmaceutical firm Amgen announced an agreement to acquire Horizon Therapeutics – the biggest deal this year in the health sector.
Horizon Therapeutics shares spiked 15.5% following the news.
In the aviation sector, Boeing was boosted by “hopes it might secure a massive aircraft order from Air India”, Moya added.
Meanwhile, markets digested remarks by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said in an interview on CBS News Sunday that while recession is a risk, it is not “something that is necessary to bring inflation down”.
Microsoft Corp rose 2.89% following the tech giant’s deal to buy a 4% stake in the London Stock Exchange Group, helping to boost each of the three major indexes.
After strong gains in October and November, the benchmark S&P 500 stumbled out of the gate in December, and suffered its biggest weekly percentage decline in nearly three months as mixed economic data helped fuel recession concerns. AFP, Reuters