S&P 500 has its longest winning streak since January – US Market Wrap
Stocks closed at all-time highs, with Jerome Powell’s remarks to Congress doing little to change expectations that the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates this year.
Financial stocks led gains on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 rising for the sixth consecutive session, its longest winning streak since January. Shorter-term Treasuries outperformed on expectations that they would benefit more from policy easing. Powell was careful not to provide a timeline for rate cuts. However, he emphasised growing signs of a cooling job market after government data revealed a third consecutive month of rising unemployment.
Powell stated that regulators are close to agreeing to change their plan to require large banks to hold significantly more capital, a major victory for Wall Street lenders. The overhaul is linked to Basel III, an international accord enacted in response to the 2008 financial crisis and designed to prevent bank failures and another crisis.
This year, the S&P 500 set its 36th record. JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo all climbed. Tesla and Nvidia’s megacaps are higher. Oracle fell after Elon Musk announced that his artificial intelligence startup would rely less on the software company’s cloud technology.
Treasuries recovered after a strong $58 billion sale of three-year notes, but a sell-off in European bonds kept the market under control. Swap traders continued to forecast two rate cuts in 2024.
