In a quiet Wednesday, U.S. stocks marginally increased, and Treasury yields increased after a positive report on the health of the labour market.
A day after falling from its record on fears of a potential escalation of the fighting in the Middle East, the S&P 500 ended almost unchanged. The S&P 500 somehow managed the negative sentiments on the US bourse.
The S&P 500
After hitting the opening bell at 5,698.14 points, the index rode the snail and took a slow-paced approach to the day-high level of 5,719.63, which was a meagre lead of 10.88 points from the previous closing bell level of 5,708.75.
They managed the war tensions and tolerated the sentiments in the trading session, which allowed the index to shutter in the green territory with a tiny lead over the opening. The concluded at 5,709.54 points.
The Nasdaq composite
The index made up of tech giants, including the magnificent seven; the Nasdaq Composite also took the slow-paced, non-volatile approach to reach the day-high level of 17,978.57 points, which was a very small gain over the closing level of the previous trading day at 17,910.36 points.
The Nasdaq composite gained 0.1 per cent after ringing the opening bell at 17,867.12 with 43.24 in the negative territory and going on to touch the day low of 17,767.79 points, which turned into a positive trading level.
Touching the day-high level eventually led the index to conclude the trading day at 17,925.12 points with a 14.76 point lead amounting to a tiny 0.082 per cent.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
While the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 39 points, or 0.1 per cent. The Dow jones Industrial Average concluding the trading day at 42,196.52 points with a 39.55 points lead over the closing level of previous trading day amounting to minute 0.094 per cent.
The boiling Oil situation
As the world watches Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday, oil prices increased once more, but they eventually lost ground during the day. The price of a barrel of Brent crude settled at USD 73.90, up 0.5 per cent after briefly surpassing USD 76 earlier.
Although Iran is a major oil producer, Israel is not, and there is concern that a wider war may impact neighbouring nations that are also essential to the flow of crude.
In the meantime, indications that supplies are still plentiful help to control oil prices. A U.S. government report states that last week saw an increase in the quantity of crude in American stockpiles.
Late on Tuesday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury increased from 3.73 per cent to 3.78 per cent. The two-year yield increased to 3.63 per cent from 3.61 per cent, more in line with forecasts for the Fed’s overnight interest rate actions.
The market’s top concern
The main concern plaguing Wall Street has been whether the labor market can continue to improve following the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain interest rates at a two-decade high.
The Federal Reserve attempted to restrain the economy to the extent necessary to eliminate excessive inflation.
Because of the increased optimism that the U.S. economy will continue to grow after the Federal Reserve changed course and started lowering interest rates to boost it, stocks are trading close to all-time highs.
For the first time in over four years, the Federal Reserve cut its main interest rate last month, and it signalled that more reductions would come through the end of the year.
