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Wall Street stocks rallied at the open on Friday after a week of hammering stocks from rising oil prices and growing expectations that interest rates will remain high for longer.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent at the opening bell in New York after hitting its lowest level since June overnight. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3 percent, surpassing its lowest level since August.
The S&P lost 2.4 percent and the Nasdaq lost 3 percent after U.S. policymakers gave a more hawkish forecast for future monetary policy that signaled another rate hike this year and fewer rate cuts in 2024.
Backing up the Federal Reserve’s case, the S&P Global Flash Composite Purchasing Managers Index, a measure of U.S. manufacturing and services activity, was at 50.1 in September, just below 50.2 the previous month.
The reading remained above the neutral 50 mark that separates a contraction from an expansion, signaling continued economic resilience that gives the Federal Reserve more room to tighten monetary policy.
Longer-term U.S. Treasury bonds fell after rising sharply on Thursday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which hit a 16-year high in the previous session, fell 0.03 percentage points to 4.45 percent.
The dollar, which tends to strengthen when investors expect interest rates to remain high, gained as much as 0.2 percent against a basket of six comparable currencies before giving back its gains. It remained near its highest level since March.
Concerns about central banks’ policy plans were reflected in the euro zone, where the corresponding PMI came in at 47.1 in September, above analyst forecasts of 46.5.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2 percent as it was dragged lower by industrial stocks, while France’s Cac 40 fell 0.5 percent and Germany’s Dax fell 0.1 percent.
Pressure on central banks around the world has been increased as oil prices have risen 30 percent since June due to supply cuts by leading exporters, threatening to hamper global efforts to bring inflation back to the 2 percent target.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.1 percent on Friday to trade at $94.32 a barrel after Russia banned exports of diesel and gasoline in its latest move to boost prices. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. index, rose 1.6 percent to $91.03.
European energy stocks boosted the region’s blue-chip indices, with the Stoxx Europe 600 energy index rising 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen weakened 0.5 percent to trade at ¥148.23 per dollar after the Bank of Japan announced on Friday its widely expected decision to stick to its ultra-low interest rate policy.
The policy comes even as Japan’s consumer price growth exceeded the central bank’s 2 percent target for the 17th straight month, with the “core” reading rising 3.1 percent in August.
Source : www.ft.com