US markets end higher on Wednesday

03 Oct 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday as traders continued to express optimism about the outlook for the economy following the jobs data. On Friday, the Labor Department is due to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of September. Street currently expect the report to show employment rose by 140,000 jobs in September after climbing by 142,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.2 percent. However, up side remained capped amid concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East following Iran's ballistic missile attack against Israel on Tuesday. While Iran has said it is not interested in a wider war, the attacks have contributed to a surge by the price of crude oil, leading to worries higher energy prices will lead to a resurgence in inflation. 

Meanwhile, waning optimism the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively lower interest rates also weighed on markets after payroll processor ADP released a report showing stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of September. ADP said private sector employment climbed by 143,000 jobs in September after rising by an upwardly revised 103,000 jobs in August. Street had expected private sector employment to advance by 120,000 jobs compared to the addition of 99,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. On the sectoral front, While most of the major sectors showed only modest moves, semiconductor stocks saw a significant rebound following recent weakness, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 1.5 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.55 points or 0.09 percent to 42,196.52, Nasdaq gained 14.76 points or 0.08 percent to 17,925.12 and S&P 500 was up by 0.79 points or 0.01 percent to 5,709.54.


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