US STOCKS-Wall Street up on hopes of Fed backing; FedEx jumps
*Boeing down after U.S. House panel’s report on 737 MAX crashes. Sept 16- Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Wednesday as investors hoped the Federal Reserve would continue to keep interest rates low for a prolonged period, with upbeat quarterly results from FedEx also boosting sentiment. “The Fed has made abundantly clear that policy rates will remain pinned…
(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Fed expected to keep rates low for prolonged period
* FedEx jumps on bigger-than-expected quarterly profit
* Boeing down after U.S. House panel’s report on 737 MAXcrashes
* Indexes up: Dow 0.42%, S&P 500 0.40%, Nasdaq 0.27%(Updates to open)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Sept 16 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes rose onWednesday as investors hoped the Federal Reserve would continueto keep interest rates low for a prolonged period, with upbeatquarterly results from FedEx also boosting sentiment.
The central bank’s two-day meeting is its first under anewly adopted framework that promises to shoot for inflationabove 2% to make up for periods where it is running below thattarget.
The Federal Open Market Committee will release its policystatement and economic projections at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT),followed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s virtual news briefing halfan hour later.
“The Fed has made abundantly clear that policy rates willremain pinned near zero for as far as the eye can see,” saidSeema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors.
“Yet, markets will be impatient for additional guidance onhow they will utilize their broader toolkit if they wantinflation to hit 2% over the forecast horizon, let aloneovershoot it.”
Wall Street’s main indexes have bounced after a tech-drivenslump that pushed the Nasdaq Composite index intocorrection territory in just three sessions.
After declining for two weeks in a row, the benchmark S&P500 has rebounded 1.8% in the past two sessions, butmixed data has kept investors on edge about the pace of aneconomic recovery.
Latest figures showed U.S. consumer spending slowed inAugust, with a key retail sales gauge unexpectedly declining.
At 10:09 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average wasup 116.75 points, or 0.42%, at 28,112.35, the S&P 500 wasup 13.47 points, or 0.40%, at 3,414.67 and the Nasdaq Compositewas up 30.71 points, or 0.27%, at 11,221.04.
Eight of the 11 S&P sectors gained in early trading, withthe S&P 500 technology subindex edging up 0.1%.
Delivery firm FedEx Corp jumped 7.2% after reportinga bigger-than-expected quarterly profit, helped in part by pricehikes and lower fuel costs. Shares in rival United ParcelService Inc gained 1.1%.
Boeing Co dipped 0.2%, after a U.S. House panelconcluded that two 737 MAX crashes were the “horrificculmination” of failures by the planemaker and the FederalAviation Administration.
Apple Inc dropped 0.6%, after ending the previoussession marginally higher, as it rolled out a new virtualfitness service and a bundle of all its subscriptions, AppleOne.
Eastman Kodak Co jumped 63.6% after a law firmhired by the photography equipment maker said its chiefexecutive officer’s securities transactions around the time thecompany learned it could receive a $765 million government loandid not violate internal policies.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 2.71-to-1 ratioon the NYSE and a 2.88-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 16 new 52-week highs and no new low,while the Nasdaq recorded 45 new highs and seven new lows.(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Devik Jain in Bengaluru;Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
