epa05542651 Traders work on the floor at the Opening Bell of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, New York, USA, 16 September 2016. EPA/JUSTIN LANE
NEW YORK: Wall Street was higher on Wednesday morning, boosted by gains in technology and energy stocks, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision later in the day.
The Fed is scheduled to release a statement at 2:00pm ET, followed by chair Janet Yellen’s press conference. While the chances of a hike are marginal this time, investors will comb the central bank’s statements for clues about a December hike.
US stocks were also supported by the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) decision to adopt a “yield curve control” under which it will buy long-term government bonds to keep 10-year bond yields at current levels around zero percent.
The BOJ also said it would not hesitate to ease monetary policy to support growth.
The S&P technology sector rose 0.47%, supported by a 0.7% gain in Microsoft which announced a US$40bil share buy back programme.
The stock was also the top influence on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.
The dollar index was flat after touching a near two-week high on the BOJ policy announcement. The yen fell 0.96% against the dollar and gold rose to its highest in more than two weeks.
“The BOJ made some dovish comments and that has given investors an early push on the likelihood of no action from the Fed,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
“However, we could see a violent reversal of early-morning fortunes after hearing what the Fed says about future rates.”
The Fed raised interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade last December but weak economic data and global uncertainty have prevented it from raising the rates further.
The central bank is widely expected to hold on to current rates even in its November meeting which falls close to the US Presidential elections.
The overall consensus is for a rate hike in December.
Traders have priced in a poor 15% chance of a rate hike on Wednesday, while the odds rise to about 59 percent for December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
At 9:44am ET (1344 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 74.82 points, or 0.41%, at 18,204.78.
The S&P 500 was up 9.44 points, or 0.44%, at 2,149.2 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 24.98 points, or 0.48%, at 5,266.33.
Oil prices rose 1.5%, spurred by a surprise drop in US crude inventories and a strike by oil workers in Norway which could affect output. The energy index rose 0.77 percent and was the top gainer among the 11 major S&P indexes.
Adobe Systems was the top percentage gainer on the S&P, rising 6.3% to US$106.77 after reporting quarterly revenue that beat market expectations, prompting a host of brokerages to raise their price targets.
FedEx rose 5.7% to US$171.83 after the package delivery company’s quarterly profit rose more than expected.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,196 to 488. On the Nasdaq, 1,780 issues rose and 500 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed three new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 33 new highs and eight new lows. - Reuters
