Wall St rebounds on tech rally, benign inflation data
Wall Street has bounced back as megacap tech and chip stocks recovered from the week’s pummeling, while a largely in-line key inflation reading kept bets for an early start to interest-rate cuts alive.
Industrial conglomerate 3M jumped more than 17 per cent, boosting the Dow, after the company raised the lower end of its annual adjusted profit forecast.
Chip stocks led the recovery in technology stocks, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index on track to snap three sessions of losses as Nvidia, Intel, Broadcom and Qualcomm rose between 1.2 per cent and 2.6 per cent.
The so-called Magnificent Seven stocks were mixed in early trading, with Apple, Tesla and Alphabet slipping between 0.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent, while Microsoft , Meta Platforms and Amazon.com rose 0.4 per cent to two per cent.
The 10-year Treasury yield turned lower after the inflation figures were out.
Data showed the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric, rose 0.1 per cent on a monthly basis in June and 2.5 per cent annually, both as expected, while personal income was lower than expected.
The moderate rise in US prices underscored an improving inflation environment, potentially positioning the Fed to start easing policy in September.
“You’ve got a pretty nice (inflation) report here that further emboldens the soft landing narrative,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments.
Economically sensitive small-cap stocks rose, with the Russell 2000 jumping 1.7 per cent, set for its third straight week of gains, if trends hold.
Bets of a 25-basis-point cut by the Fed’s September meeting held steady at around 88 per cent after the data, according to CME’s FedWatch. Traders still largely expect two rate cuts by December, according to LSEG data.
In early trading on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 547.26 points, or 1.37 per cent, at 40,482.33, the S&P 500 was up 43.42 points, or 0.80 per cent, at 5,442.64, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 109.36 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 17,291.08.
However, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were still on track for a second straight week of losses as investors dumped tech stocks in the past few weeks. Disappointing earnings from Alphabet and Tesla sparked a steep sell-off in megacap and artificial-intelligence-linked shares on Wednesday.
“Next week is an even busier week for earnings reports than this week… after a rough week, on a summer Friday, markets have a chance to bounce higher,” Meckler said.
Worries about Wall Street’s growing dependence on a set of high-momentum stocks, whose valuations now appear inflated, have made underperforming sectors like mid- and small-cap stocks seem more attractive now that early rate cuts seem likely.
Rate-sensitive sectors led gains, with the S&P 500 Industrials and Materials indexes up more than one per cent each, while the Dow Jones Transport index gained 1.7 per cent.
On the earnings front, Deckers Outdoor jumped 10.5 per cent after raising its annual profit forecast, while oilfield services firm Baker Hughes climbed 3.4 per cent after beating estimates for second-quarter profit.
Medical device maker Dexcom slumped 40.2 per cent after cutting its annual revenue forecast.
Of the 206 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported second-quarter earnings till date, 78.6 per cent beat analysts’ expectations, according to LSEG data.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5.90-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 3.72-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 111 new highs and 21 new lows.
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