US: Dow, S&P 500 end third quarter at records
THE Dow and S&P 500 finished at fresh records on Monday, concluding a buoyant third quarter positively as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled expectations for more interest rate cuts.
Powell expressed optimism that there will be “further disinflation” after receding pricing pressure allowed the central bank to cut interest rates earlier this month.
This week’s data includes the September jobs report, which will affect the Fed’s monetary policy moves.
The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 5,762.45, up 0.4 per cent for the day and up about 5.5 per cent for the quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 per cent at 42,330.15, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.4 per cent to 18,189.17.
Major indices have hit repeat records in recent weeks amid expectations for more Fed easing in the coming months.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
“This has been a great quarter,” said Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers. “It’s hard to find losers this quarter.”
Among individual companies, AT&T rose 0.4 per cent after announcing that it had reached an agreement to sell its remaining stake in DirecTV to TPG, saying it expects to garner US$7.6 billion in the transaction.
Carnival slipped 0.3 per cent despite reporting higher profits on a record US$7.9 billion in quarterly revenues. Briefing.com praised the results, but noted that shares of the cruise company had risen 25 per cent since mid-August.
CVS Health rose 2.4 per cent following a report that Glenview Capital is pressing management to boost returns. AFP