Wall Street opens higher with Dow erasing 2020 losses

Wall Street opens higher with Dow erasing 2020 losses

Proactive Investors

Published

As expected, the markets in New York have made a positive start to the final session of the week as traders maintained positivity arising from Fed chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Thursday which indicated an easing of monetary policy from the central bank. In the first minutes of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.06% higher at 28,508 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.25% to 3,493 and the Nasdaq rose 0.48% to 11,680. Markets seemed to have shrugged off a slowdown in US consumer spending in July, which could cause the economic recovery to lose some steam, while personal incomes rose 0.4% in the month as the US government kept paying businesses to keep employees on the payroll. The positive start for the Dow also means the index has effectively erased all of its losses for the year-to-date following its plunge in March. 7.45am: Wall Street to head higher Wall Street seems keen to get the party started following yesterday’s speech from Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, with the main three US indices tipped to open in positive territory. Spread betting quotes suggest the Dow Jones will open 145 points firmer at 28,637 while the S&P 500 is tipped to start 15 points higher at just below the 3,500 level and the Nasdaq is expected to rise 37 points to around 11,970. However, all of that may change when the US personal income and expenditure numbers for July are released. The former is expected to ease by -0.2% and the latter to rise by 1.5%. Economists are expecting the core personal consumer expenditures price index to rise 1.2%. “Today's monthly private consumption data for July are going to be very interesting. Retail sales grew again in July (despite high-frequency indicators suggesting otherwise) but it may be the case that consumers substituted away from services into goods,” commented Danske Bank. Later in the day, we will have the Chicago purchasing managers’ index for August, which is expected to be around the 52 level, and the final reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, where economists have penciled in a number of 72.8. Four things to watch for on Friday: More speeches from central bankers at this year’s virtual Jackson Hole conference, with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey one of the key speakers on Friday US personal income data for July will provide insight into how much US households are bringing in. Incomes fell 1.1% in June so the latest figure may show the effects of a winding down of federal support benefits for Americans American consumer spending data for July which will show how much US households are spending, potentially a barometer for the prospects of the country’s economic recovery. The June figure saw a 5.6% rise month-on-month, so market will likely hope this trend has continued or accelerated Share price reaction for computer maker Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL) after the company beat earnings estimates in its second quarter results, released after the close on Thursday

Full Article