Several retailers made particularly strong gains following solid financial results. Abercrombie & Fitch surged 17 per cent and American Eagle jumped 17.8 per cent.
Nearly every company in the S&P 500 has reported their latest financial results, according to FactSet, and the results have been mixed. Companies in the index have reported overall earnings growth of about 2 per cent, but have also issued various warnings about weaker consumer demand and crimped sales as inflation continues squeezing consumers.
Inflation and the Federal Reserve’s fight to tame it remains the main concern for Wall Street. The central bank on Wednesday will release minutes from its latest policy meeting, potentially giving investors more insight into its decision-making process.
Wall Street has been hoping that the central bank might ease up on its aggressive rate increases. Its benchmark rate currently stands at 3.75 per cent to 4 per cent, up from close to zero in March.
The Fed has warned that it may have to ultimately raise rates to previously unanticipated level to cool the hottest inflation in decades. That strategy raises the risk that it could go too far in slowing economic growth and bring on a recession.
Worries about a recession continue hanging over the global economy and markets.
Loading
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is forecasting modest economic growth globally this year and more tepid growth in 2023. Russia’s war in Ukraine continues threatening energy supplies and key food commodities including wheat. A resurgence of COVID-19 cases in China continues threatening the world’s second-largest economy and global supply chains.
“In 2023, we expect less pain but also no gain,” stated a report from Goldman Sachs looking ahead to the new year.
The investment bank expects inflation and high interest rates to essentially flatten out corporate earnings and hold the broader stock market at its current levels, with the S&P 500 ending 2023 where it currently sits at around 4,000 points.
AP
The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.
For all the latest Business News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsBit.us is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
