Wall Street built on recent gains and closed higher on Wednesday
|After starting the day higher, the major equity indexes in the U.S. were able to hold on to their gains after the May 2-3 FOMC meeting minutes showed that the policymakers are likely to stay on hold on rate hikes as they need to make sure that the recent U.S. economic slowdown is transitory. Furthermore, the members also reiterated that the consumer confidence remained high, boosting the market sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 74.51 points, or 0.36%, to 21,012.42, the S&P 500 was up 5.25 points, or 0.22%, closing at its record high at 2,403.25 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 24.31 points, or 0.40%, to 6,163.02.
Commenting on the FOMC minutes, "absent a material slowdown in the economy, Federal Reserve officials, acknowledging support from strengthening global growth, appear poised to stay on track toward interest rate normalization," Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial, told Reuters.
Headlines from the U.S. session:
- US debt limit next major risk factor? - Nomura
- U.S. Treasury's Mnuchin urges congress to raise debt limit prior to August break
- CME Group FedWatch suggests traders still see high probability of June hike
- US Dollar pushes lower toward 97 on FOMC minutes
- FOMC minutes: Fed policymakers agreed that details of balance sheet plan should be announced soon
- US Existing Home Sale: Down in April, up 4.1% so far 2017 - Wells Fargo
- Insights: Trump administration’s proposed FY 2018 budget - Nomura
- Five takeaways from Trump's first budget - BBH
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