US markets end higher on Wednesday

25 Feb 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday as bond yields gave back ground after moving significantly higher early in the session. The yields on ten-year notes and thirty-year bonds reached their highest intraday levels in a year before pulling back as the day progressed. The pullback by yields followed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell once again reiterating that the Fed is likely to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy for the foreseeable future. Powell testified before House Financial Services Committee, with his prepared remarks mirroring those he delivered before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. The Fed chief also continued to downplay the risks of inflation, which have recently spooked investors and driven treasury yields to their highest levels since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Besides, news FDA staff have endorsed Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use also have contributed to the strength on markets, with the move paving the way for final approval of the new single-dose vaccine. On the economic data front, data released by the Commerce Department showed a much bigger than expected jump in new home sales in the US in the month of January. The Commerce Department said new home sales spiked by 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 923,000 in January after soaring by 5.5 percent to a revised rate of 885,000 in December. Street had expected new home sales to surge up by 1.5 percent to a rate of 855,000 from the 842,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 424.51 points or 1.35 percent to 31,961.86, Nasdaq gained 132.77 points or 0.99 percent to 13,597.97, and S&P 500 was up by 44.06 points or 1.14 percent to 3,925.43. 

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