US markets end higher on Wednesday

16 Feb 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected retail sales data offered evidence of resilience in the U.S. economy. The Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial increase in U.S. retail sales in the month of January. The report said retail sales spiked by 3.0 percent in January after tumbling by 1.1 percent in December. Street had expected retail sales to jump by 1.8 percent. Excluding a surge in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales still shot up by 2.3 percent in January after falling by a revised 0.9 percent in December. Ex-auto sales were expected to increase by 0.8 percent compared to the 1.1 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

However, gains remained capped investors worried about more interest rate hikes by Federal Reserve in the months ahead. On the sectoral front, Tobacco stocks showed a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index up by 1.2 percent. Considerable strength also emerged among networking stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. On the other hand, substantial weakness remained visible among gold stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.5 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 38.78 points or 0.11 percent to 34,128.05, Nasdaq rose 110.45 points or 0.92 percent to 12,070.59 and S&P 500 was up by 11.47 points or 0.28 percent to 4,147.60.

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