The New York Dow Jones Stock Exchange closed higher on Friday (January 27) as investors reacted to economic data that suggested slowing inflation. Including reporting better than expected fourth quarter earnings from listed companies Additionally, investors will be keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33,978.08 points, an increase of 28.67 points or +0.08%, the S&P500 index closed at 4,070.56 points, an increase of 10.13 points or +0.25%, and the Nasdaq index closed at 11,621, an increase of 11,621. 109.30 points or +0.95%.
in the past week the Dow rose 1.8%, the S&P 500 gained 2.5% and the Nasdaq rose 4.3%.
The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 rose for a third consecutive week, while the Nasdaq rose for a fourth consecutive week, its longest weekly gain since August.
year to date The Dow rose 2.5%, the S&P 500 rose 6% and the Nasdaq rose 11%.
Ryan Dietrich, Carson Market Principal Analyst The Omaha-based group said “Inflation continues to slow sharply. And it has eased a lot of anxiety about the economic situation. “
Markets were boosted by releases of US economic data showing demand and inflation slowing. This is in line with the Fed’s aim of raising interest rates.
The US Commerce Department said its headline PCE index, which includes food and energy, rose 5.0% in December from a year earlier. and slowed by 5.5% in November.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline PCE index rose 0.1% in December after also gaining 0.1% in November.
In terms of the core PCE index, which excludes the food and energy sectors. And a measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve (Fed) cares about, it rose 4.4 percent in December year on year. in line with analysts’ forecasts after rising 4.7% in November.
Month-on-month, the core PCE index rose 0.3% in December, in line with analysts’ expectations. after rising 0.2% in November.
The PCE index is an inflation gauge that can detect changes in consumer behaviour. and covers a wider range of prices for goods and services than Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.
Analysts said sluggish PCE data would give the Fed a chance to end aggressive rate hikes.
However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell made it clear The Fed’s fight against the highest inflation in decades is far from over.
The financial market still believes that the Fed will raise short-term interest rates by 0.25% at next week’s meeting (Jan. 31-Feb. 1).
The market will also be keeping an eye on listed companies reporting results for the fourth quarter of 2022, with 143 S&P500 indexes reporting gains, of which 67.8% reported above-average results.
Six of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 ended higher, with luxury and real estate gaining 2.27 percent and 0.94 percent, respectively, while energy was the biggest loser at 1.99 percent.
As for individual stocks, American Express and Visa rose 10.5 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively, after better-than-expected earnings. But Intel stock fell 6.4% after it revealed disappointing earnings expectations, and Chevron fell 4.4% after it posted 2022 earnings but beat expectations in fourth-quarter results.
this week’s Fed Investor Focus Meeting, January Jobs Data and reporting on leading companies such as Apple, Amazon.com, Alphabet and Meta Platform.
