A trader works on the floor at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange on August 23, 2017 in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Bryan R. Smith
NEW YORK: Wall Street was higher in late morning trading on Friday as investors perceived Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s remarks as dovish and on news that President Donald Trump will turn his attention to long-awaited tax reform next week.
All the 11 major S&P sectors were higher. The S&P 500 and the Dow on course to snap a two-week losing streak, while the Nasdaq was poised to post its first week of gain in five.
Yellen, as widely expected, did not mention monetary policy in her speech at the annual conference of global central banks’ chiefs in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
However, she said that the reforms put in place after the 2007-2009 financial crisis have strengthened the financial system, without impeding economic growth.
“There was a risk that Yellen would’ve said something. She didn’t say anything, so people can do what they wanted to do in the first place, which was position themselves for September,” said Marc Chandler, chief global currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman.
Chandler said Yellen’s Jackson Hole speech was ”an event in the sense that people had to get to the other side of the hurdle”.
Also helping sentiment was news that President Donald Trump will turn his attention to his campaign promise of implementing tax reform.
“Starting next week, the president’s agenda and calendar is going to revolve around tax reform,” National Economic Council director Gary Cohn told the Financial Times.
Cohn also said that despite pressure on him to both resign from and stay in his post, he was ”reluctant to leave”.
In the past two weeks, speculation about the departure of Cohn, along with the recent unrest in the White House, had sparked concerns about the Trump administration’s ability to implement its pro-growth agenda, including on tax reform.
At 10:49am ET (1449 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 65.6 points, or 0.3%, at 21,849 and the S&P 500 was up 8.3 points, or 0.34%, at 2,447.27.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 9.09 points, or 0.14%, at 6,280.42.
However, traders said volumes were low, as they tend to be during the summer months, which tended to make market moves more pronounced.
The telecom, industrials, and energy sectors were the leaders, with gains of more than 0.5%.
Oil majors Exxon and Chevron rose about 1%, helped by a rise in oil prices as the industry braces for Hurricane Harvey, which may become the biggest storm to hit the US mainland in more than a decade.
Shares of Autodesk were up about 5% after the software maker raised its forecast.
Ulta Beauty sank more than 10% after the retailer’s comparable sales and profit forecast missed estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,808 to 857. On the Nasdaq, 1,462 issues rose and 1,135 fell. - Reuters
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