Wall Street posts gains as investors eye rate outlook

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Sept 11, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File photo

Wall Street’s main indexes posted gains on Monday, with increases in Amazon.com shares and the energy sector, as Treasury yields rose further and investors looked to economic data and Federal Reserve policymakers’ remarks later in the week for clarity on the path for interest rates.

Investors are grappling with the rise in benchmark Treasury yields to 16-year highs after the Fed gave a hawkish longer-term rate outlook. The S&P 500 rebounded on Monday after last week it had its biggest weekly drop since March.

There is a “tug of war between investors seemingly getting more concerned about ‘higher for longer’ … and bulls wondering maybe we have seen the correction and we can start to build from these levels higher,” said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services.

READ: ‘Higher for longer’ interest rates remain a threat to US stocks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43.04 points, or 0.13 percent, to 34,006.88; the S&P 500 gained 17.38 points, or 0.40 percent, at 4,337.44; and the Nasdaq Composite added 59.51 points, or 0.45 percent, at 13,271.32.

Among S&P 500 sectors, energy led the way, rising 1.3 percent, while materials gained 0.8 percent. Defensive sectors lagged, with the consumer staples group dropping 0.4 percent.

With the end of the third quarter drawing near, investors said market moves may be relatively muted until companies report quarterly results in the coming weeks.

The S&P 500 has slid about 5.5 percent since late July but remains up about 13 percent for 2023.

“There is less urgency to aggressively buy pullbacks in a higher-for-longer world and that is what the market is going to have to deal with over the coming months,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.

READ: Sharply higher gas prices pushed up US inflation in August

Investors through the week will be monitoring data including on durable goods and the personal consumption expenditures price index for August, and second-quarter Gross Domestic Product, as well as remarks by Fed policymakers, including Chair Jerome Powell.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said in an interview with CNBC on Monday that inflation staying above the Fed’s 2 percent target remains a greater risk than tight central bank policy slowing the economy more than needed.

In company news, Amazon.com shares rose 1.7 percent after the e-commerce giant said it will invest up to $4 billion in startup Anthropic to compete with growing cloud rivals in artificial intelligence.

READ: Amazon steps up AI race with up to $4-B deal to invest in Anthropic

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 52 new highs and 341 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.1-to-1 ratio. The Nasdaq recorded 45 new highs and 426 new lows.

About 9.1 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 10 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.