Wall Street neared a record high Wednesday ahead of a highly anticipated report on inflation, which could show whether all the excitement that's vaulted stocks higher recently is warranted.
- The S&P 500 rose 26.95 points, or 0.6%, to 4,783.45 and is just 0.3% below its all-time high.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 170.57 points, 0.5%, to 37,695.73, 20 points below last week's all-time high.
- The Nasdaq composite rose 111.94 points, or 0.8%, to 14,969.65.
Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of Thursday's update from the US government on inflation at the consumer level, the
AP reports.
Intuitive Surgical rose 10.3% after the maker of robotic surgery systems said it expects to report stronger revenue for the end of 2023 than analysts expected. Homebuilder Lennar climbed 3.5% after it said it would send cash to shareholders by increasing its dividend and authorizing a repurchase of up to $5 billion of its own stock. But the market's focus is on Thursday, when the inflation report comes out. A cooldown there from its peak in the summer of 2022 has raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates sharply this year. That in turn has sent Treasury yields easing in the bond market and stock prices rallying toward record heights.
Economists expect Thursday's report to show prices paid by US consumers were 3.2% higher in December than a year earlier, according to FactSet. That would be a slight acceleration from November's 3.1% inflation rate. But after ignoring the effects of food and fuel prices, which can quickly shift month to month, economists believe underlying inflation trends likely continued to cool. The Fed has noticed the cooldown in inflation, and it has hinted at possibly cutting interest rates three times this year.
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On Wall Street, Boeing's stock stabilized after slumping earlier in the week following the in-flight blowout of one of its planes flying for Alaska Airlines. It rose 0.9%. WD-40 jumped 15.2% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Some of Wall Street's heavier losses Wednesday came from stocks of oil-and-gas companies. Exxon Mobil sank 1% and Devon lost 1.9%.
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