NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main stock indexes climbed on Tuesday as most heavyweight growth stocks and chipmakers rose, while investors looked forward to economic data in a holiday-shortened week to assess the Federal Reserve’s policy path.
Tesla gained 5.4% after CEO Elon Musk said the electric-vehicle maker will give a one-month trial of its Full Self-Driving driver-assist technology to existing and new customers in the United States. The Philadelphia Semico-nductor Index inched 0.3% higher, on track to ending the quarter with double-digit gains after an artificial intelligence-led rally lifted chipmakers.
Micron Technology was among top gainers in the sector, up 2.3%, while Marvell Technology rose 3.1%. Meanwhile, the spotlight remains on a crucial February reading of the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE), the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. The data is due on Friday, when US markets will be shut for the Good Friday holiday. The index is expected to have risen 0.4% in February and 2.5% annually. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy components, is estimated to have been up 0.3% last month, which would keep the annual pace at 2.8%, according to economists polled by Reuters.
Wall Street hit fresh record highs last week after the central bank stuck to its projection of three interest-rate cuts this year. “Overall, (Fed Chair) Powell came across as relatively dovish and so I understand why the market has responded positively to that,” said Crit Thomas, global market strategist at Touchstone Investments. “But I still think we haven’t put to bed the inflation issue.” Fed officials said on Monday they continued to believe US inflation would ease, but acknowledged an increased sense of caution around the debate.
Traders see an at least 70% chance the Fed will begin its easing cycle in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool, up from a nearly 59% chance seen early last week.
On the data front, US consumer confidence held steady in March, while a separate reading showed orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods increased more than expected in February.
At 11:28 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 97.37 points, or 0.25%, at 39,411.01, the S&P 500 was up 15.27 points, or 0.29%, at 5,233.46 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 63.00 points, or 0.38%, at 16,447.46.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, with the consumer discretionary sector leading gains, up 0.8%. Among headlining stocks, Trump Media & Technology group surged 38.4% as it kicked off its first day of trading after completing a reverse merger with a blank check firm. McCormick added 9.8% after the spice maker beat market expectations for first-quarter sales and profit. Seagate Technology gained 10.9% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the computer hard-drive maker’s rating to “overweight” from “equal-weight”. Trading activity is expected to be lean owing to the upcoming long weekend break.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.32-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.00-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 28 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 56 new highs and 80 new lows.
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