Wall Street stocks continued their rally on Wednesday with investors embracing the idea that abruptly cooling inflation will put interest rate hikes on ice.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led gains, rising about 0.5%. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose about 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) barely finished above the flat line. The Dow has now risen four straight days and is at its highest levels since Aug. 14.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies also extended their recent rally. The world’s largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC-USD), rose more than 6% to above $37,000 per coin.
In commodities, oil prices fell with West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) hitting $76.51 per barrel while Brent Crude (BZ=F) fell to just below $81 a barrel.
The jump in stocks was juiced by the surprise easing in US price pressures, which spurred bets the Federal Reserve will keep rates steady and could start cutting them early next year. Data out Wednesday reiterated this narrative as October wholesale prices saw the largest monthly decline in two and a half years.
Meanwhile, October’s retail sales report revealed the first monthly decline in sales since March, though the 0.1% drop still topped Wall Street’s estimates.
Shares in Target (TGT) surged more than 16% after its third quarter earnings clobbered estimates. The big box retailer pointed to the resilience of the US consumer in the face of higher borrowing costs.
