The S&P 500 Starts The Week Off On A High Note – US Market Wrap

Stocks kept pushing higher, adding to a rally that’s already topped $3 trillion from this month’s lows amid hopes the Federal Reserve will signal it’s ready to start cutting interest rates.

The S&P 500 increased on the eighth day in a row, marking the longest winning run of 2024. Despite recent volatility and increased uncertainty about the economic future, investors’ enthusiasm for equities has remained strong.The S&P 500 increased by 1%, reaching 5,600. A barometer of the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps rose 1.7%. The Russell 2000 index of small businesses rose 1.2%. An equal-weighted version of the S&P 500, which gives Target the same weighting as Microsoft, reached an all-time high on hopes that the rise would broaden.

With the central bank approaching a crucial pivot point, it’s difficult to overstate how much attention financial markets will be paying. For starters, they’re looking for confirmation from Jerome Powell Friday that the Fed will lower rates in September. But more drama surrounds what happens after that and the pace of additional cuts over the next several months as the Fed confronts the dual risks to both inflation and employment.

Treasury 10-year yields fell one basis point to 3.87%. The dollar hit the lowest since March. Oil sank about 3%. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted a cease-fire proposal for Gaza and “the next important step is for Hamas to say yes.”