On Wall Street, key indexes ended sharply higher yesterday (29 August 2023), lifted by Tesla, Nvidia and other mega-cap growth stocks after a drop in monthly job openings cemented expectations of a pause in interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 293 points, or 0.9 percent, to 34,853. The S&P 500 climbed 64 points, or 1.5 percent, to end at 4,498. And the Nasdaq index jumped gained 1.7 percent, to 13,944.
The Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed the number of job openings stood at 8.827 million in July, falling for the third straight month and signaling easing labor market pressures.
But, a report from the Conference Board showed consumer confidence in the United States fell to 106.1 in August, compared with expectations of 116.
Interest rate futures signaled an 87 percent chance the Fed will keep rates steady at its September meeting and a 54 percent chance it will keep rates on hold through November, according the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
