Powell sends US equities to fresh highs, Tesla jumps [Video]

Federal Reserve (Fed) President Jerome Powell said that the Fed has made ‘quite a bit of progress’ on inflation and investors didn’t need more to jump back on the back of a bull. The S&P 500 closed at a record high again, while Nasdaq 100 hit the 20’000 mark for the first time in history.

Tesla shares jumped 10% yesterday after the company reported a smaller decline in quarterly sales than expected.

On the data front, US job openings rose along with economic optimism but job openings in the private sector for example rose only 42K after falling nearly 500K in March and nearly 400K in April, so the aggregate 3-month average still showed a steep decline in job openings. Due today, the ADP report is expected to print 163K new private job additions in June.

Elsewhere, headline inflation eased to 2.5% in June but core inflation remained steady at 2.9%, disappointing those who were expecting a decline to 2.8%, while British shops printed zero inflation last month fueling rate cut bets in Britain after the election is over.

In energy, the barrel of US crude advanced to almost $85pb yesterday while nat gas futures extended losses.