US markets end higher on hope Fed to cut rates

06 Jun 2019 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher with gains over half percent on Wednesday on optimism about a potential interest rate cut after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's pledged to sustain the US economic expansion. Citing uncertainty surrounding trade negotiations and other matters, Powell said that the central bank will act as appropriate to support the economy. Powell's comments were widely seen as an indication the Fed is prepared to discuss lowering interest rates if escalating global trade disputes weigh down economic growth. Powell’s comments imply that the Fed might look to lower benchmark interest rates, which stand at a range between 2.25% to 2.50%, which would reduce borrowing costs for corporations and has sparked fresh enthusiasm for buying equities.

Besides, indicating an unexpected acceleration in the pace of US service sector growth in the month of May, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released a report showing an increase by its non-manufacturing index. The ISM said its non-manufacturing index climbed to 56.9 in May after falling to 55.5 in April, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in service sector activity. The increase by the non-manufacturing index came as a surprise to participants, who had expected the index to come in unchanged from the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 207.39 points or 0.82 percent to 25539.57, Nasdaq gained 48.36 points or 0.64 percent to 7575.48 and S&P 500 was up by 22.88 points or 0.82 percent to 2826.15.

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