Wall St. inches up as investors focus on policy outlook; Oracle slips
Wall Street's major indexes rose slightly in volatile trading Wednesday as investors sought clues about the future of interest rates. However, caution was still evident following reports that Oracle's plans for data centers were facing funding hurdles.
Oracle shares fell by 2.8% following a report that Blue Owl Capital, the company's biggest data center partner, said it would not support a $10 billion contract for its next facility.
Risk-taking has been plagued by concerns that the technology sector will turn to debt to achieve its AI goals. This concern has occurred multiple times in this quarter. Nvidia, the AI market leader, lost 1.8% on Tuesday.
9:34 am The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 169.09 or 0.35 percent points to 48,283.35, while the S&P 500 rose 7.72 or 0.11% points to 6,807.98, and the Nasdaq Composite?gained 18.17 or 0.08% points to 23,129.63.
Energy was up 0.9% after the previous session's near 3% drop. Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday after Trump ordered an "interdiction" against all oil tankers sanctioned by the United States from entering or leaving Venezuela.
Amazon.com, among the Big Tech companies, gained 0.8% after reports surfaced that it was in discussions to invest $10 billion into ChatGPT maker OpenAI.
Netflix's offer was preferred over Paramount Skydance, the media company's hostile bidder, which had been valued at $108.4 billion.
Netflix shares increased 2.4% while Paramount and Warner Bros. fell 4.8% and 1% respectively.
Jabil, a maker of electronic components, rose 6.2% on the back of a forecasted annual profit and revenue that was above expectations. Lennar fell 3.6% after it missed its fourth quarter profit estimate.
What the Fed thinks
Christopher Waller of the Federal Reserve, who is often seen as a dove in monetary policy, offered some relief to investors. He stated that the central banks?still has room to reduce interest rates in light of a softening job market.
The S&P 500 fell to a new three-week low Tuesday, after a crucial jobs report failed provide enough clarity about the state of the 'labor market. Analysts pointed out that the shutdown of the government could have distorted the data.
Mike O'Rourke is the chief market strategist of?JonesTrading. He said that "in this climate, the Fed will not be in a position to ease until the economy worsens." A decline in economic activity from near-stalled levels on the job market is a 'negative'.
Consumer inflation data released by the Commerce Department on Thursday will be the next important report.
Wall Street, with two weeks remaining in the year, is on track to record its third consecutive set of annual gains. This will be boosted by expectations for rate cuts and excitement over artificial intelligence.
Concerns over the valuation of?tech have led to a shift in focus from large caps into smaller companies and other sectors, such as healthcare and banks.
On the NYSE, the number of advancers outnumbered the number of decliners in a ratio 1.33 to 1.
The S&P 500 recorded three new 52-week lows but no new highs. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite posted 23 new highs while 32 new lows. Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru and Shashwat Chanhan; editing by Maju Samuel
(source: Reuters)
