Wall Street continues to climb higher as healthcare and financials lead

Healthcare records robust gains on Wednesday.
Energy and technology lose traction.
Financials boost the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day at all-time highs on Tuesday and were able to hold on to daily gains with sharp increases seen in financial and healthcare sectors outweighing losses in energy and information technology sectors.

Led by robust gains witnessed in Gilead and Boston Scientific shares, the S&P 500 Health Care Sector (SPXHC) became the best performing sector of the day as it closed 1.1% higher. Furthermore, the rate-sensitive the S&P 500 Financials Sector (SPSY) rose 0.7% while sectors that are forecasted to be impacted negatively by rate hikes such as utilities and real estate underperformed. Commenting on today's trading action, “While investor sentiment continues to be high and confidence is high, there’s still some caution from investors. Where do you position yourself if wage growth pushes up inflation? It becomes a question of how much longer can this go, how much higher,” Jeffrey Carbone, managing partner at Cornerstone Wealth in Huntersville, North Carolina, told Reuters.

On the other hand, yesterday's top gainers, the S&P 500 Information Technology Sector (SPLRCT) and the S&P 500 Energy Sector (SPNY), lost their momentum and dropped 0.26% and 0.32% respectively as investors took some of their recent profits off the table.

At the end of the day, the financial-heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 104.76 points, or 0.41%, at 25,387.76, the S&P 500 added 3.77 points, or 0.14%, at 2,751.48 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 6.4 points, or 0.09%, at 7,163.79.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

GBP/USD flirts with two-day lows near 1.3180

GBP/USD remains on the back foot in the latter part of Tuesday’s session, sliding to the sub-1.3200 area and challenging weekly lows. Cable’s decline comes as investors assess the political uncertainty in the UK, coupled with softer-than-expected UK PMI data and the better tone in the Greenback.

EUR/USD weakens below 1.1400 on stronger Dollar

EUR/USD adds to Monday’s losses and recedes below the 1.1400 support to clinch fresh 13-month lows in the latter part of Tuesday’s NA session. The pair’s marked sell-off comes on the back of the persistent move higher in th US Dollar, always propped up by rising bets of further tightening by the Fed.

Gold loses ground to near $4,100 as inflation concerns, Fed rate hike bets build

Gold price loses momentum to around $4,100 during the early Asian session on Wednesday. The precious metal extends the decline as traders cement views on the US Federal Reserve hiking interest rates this year.

Australia CPI set to show inflation accelerated again in May

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will publish the high-impact Consumer Price Index for May on Wednesday at 01:30 GMT. Heading into the inflation test, the Australian Dollar is at its lowest level in two months against the US Dollar, having surrendered the 0.7000 psychological mark.

"Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic": UK's fiscal crisis outlasts another Prime Minister

Keir Starmer's resignation as the UK Prime Minister comes ten years after the Brexit referendum vote, a coincidence that financial markets have been quick to note. The British Pound trades around 1.3220 against the US Dollar on Thursday.

Regime change: Inside Kevin Warsh's first move to make the Fed unreadable on purpose

The rate did not move. That was the least interesting thing about Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the Fed. The FOMC held its benchmark at 3.50%-3.75% for the fourth straight meeting, exactly as priced, and then the new chair used his first press conference to dismantle the machinery the market has leaned on for a decade.