US stocks trade higher to open the month as investors assess impact of Fed tightening on inflation
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- US stocks kicked off June with a rally as investors monitor the potential easing of inflationary pressures.
- Oil prices fell briefly as OPEC considers excluding Russia from its production count, which would pave the way for a boost in supply.
- Wheat prices also moved lower after reports that Russia may lift its blockade of Black Sea ports in exchange for the removal of sanctions.
US stocks traded higher on Wednesday, extending its week-long rally into June as investors monitor the potential easing of inflationary pressures.
Fed tightening actions have led to a slowdown in certain sectors like the housing market, while independent actions by OPEC and Russia led to a swift decline in oil and grain prices on Tuesday. OPEC is considering excluding Russia from its supply count, which would pave the way for a boost in oil production and supply.
Additionally, Russia is reportedly considering a lift of its blockade of Black Sea ports in exchange for the removal of sanctions. That consideration led to a sharp decline in wheat prices on Tuesday.
Finally, Shanghai is opening back up after its two-month long lockdown due to the spread of COVID-19. The reopening of China could help improve supply chain logjams and help prices trend lower instead of higher.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 4,160.90, up 0.7%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,184.61, up 0.59% (194.49 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 12,232.34, up 1.25%
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admitted that she "was wrong" about how big of a risk inflation was in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now Yellen's top priority, along with President Joe Biden's and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's, is to tame inflationary pressures.
Salesforce shares spiked 10% on Wednesday after the company reported better-than-feared first-quarter earnings. The results could lead to a broader tech rally, Wedbush argued, as it may calm fears about a broad slowdown in enterprise cloud spending.
Oil prices initially fell on the OPEC report but later rebounded. West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as much as 1.81% to $116.75 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose as much as 1.88% to $117.77.
Bitcoin jumped 0.74% to $31,833 . Ether prices rose 1.89% to $1,965.
Gold rose as much as 0.05% to $1,849.90 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 2 basis points to 2.86%.
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