Benchmark S&P Closes at Highest Level Since August

Wall Street happy about debt ceiling and hopeful about rate hikes
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 1, 2023 3:18 PM CDT
Benchmark S&P Closes at Highest Level Since August
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday, June 1, 2023.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Wall Street rose Thursday on hopes the Federal Reserve may soon take it easier on rate hikes and on relief over House passage of the debt ceiling deal.

  • The Dow rose 153 points, or 0.4%, to 33,061.
  • The benchmark S&P 500 rose 41 points, or 0.9%, to 4,221.
  • The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 165 points, or 1.2%, to 13,100.
  • CNBC notes that the S&P and Nasdaq closed at their highest levels since August.

The gains followed a suite of reports painting a split US economy, per the AP. The job market remains remarkably solid, but manufacturing is weakening and shoppers of all kinds are feeling more pressure. Altogether, investors saw the data pushing the Fed to refrain from hiking rates at its next meeting in two weeks, which would be the first time that's happened in more than a year. Buoyed by that sentiment several Big Tech companies were leading the way higher Thursday on Wall Street. Apple, Amazon, and Meta Platforms all rose at least 1.4%, and their movements carry extra weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes because they're some of the most valuable on Wall Street.

Dollar General dropped 19% after it reported weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Macy's, which also owns Bloomingdale's stores, rose 2.3% after reporting a sharp drop in first-quarter profit that still beat analysts' forecasts. Nordstrom rose 4.5% after reporting a surprise profit for the latest quarter, though it also said its customers, which include many upper-income households, were feeling pressure. Also up was Hormel Foods, which rose 4.7% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. Its brands include Skippy, Spam, and Applegate meats.

(More stock market stories.)

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