US markets end higher on Wednesday

23 Nov 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday as continued optimism about the outlook for interest rates contributed to renewed buying interest following the pullback on Tuesday.  Markets also benefitted from easing concerns about the conflict in the Middle East after Hamas and Israel agreed to a Qatar-mediated pause in fighting. on the sectoral front, retail stocks saw considerable strength on the day, with the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index climbing by 1.1 percent to its best closing level in well over a year. Notable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.0 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Networking and software stocks also saw some strength, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves.

On the economic data front, consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by less than previously estimated in the month of November, according to revised data released by the University of Michigan. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for November was upwardly revised to 61.3 from a preliminary reading of 60.4. The upwardly revised reading is well above street estimates for 60.5 but is still down from 63.8 in October. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report showing durable goods orders pulled back by much more than expected in the month of October. The Commerce Department said durable goods orders plunged by 5.4 percent in October after jumping by a downwardly revised 4.0 percent in September. Street had expected durable goods orders to tumble by 3.1 percent compared to the 4.6 percent surge that had been reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 184.74 points or 0.53 percent to 35,273.03, Nasdaq surged 65.88 points or 0.46 percent to 14,265.86 and S&P 500 was up by 18.43 points or 0.41 percent to 4,556.62. 


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