Current Stock Market News Updates: Stocks rise To end A losing Skid Of Three Weeks
On Friday, US equities recovered broadly, ending three consecutive weeks of selling
The S&P 500 index jumped by 1.5%, adding to its consecutive gains, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 377 points, or around 1.2%. Technology shares rose, with the Nasdaq Composite index up 2.1%.
Oil continued its volatile rise as prices resumed their upward trend on Friday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil futures rose by 4% each to USD 86.88 and USD 92.84 per barrel respectively.
On Friday, Russia strongly warned the West that efforts to impose price caps on the country's oil and gas exports through sanctions on Russia for the war in Ukraine would fail and "lead to a slippery floor under its own feet"
Meanwhile, on the cryptocurrency markets, bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose above USD 21 000, just a day after falling below the USD 19 000 level.
The coin's rally boosted cryptocurrency stocks, including Coinbaise (COIN), up more than 10%, and MicroStrategy (MSTR), up almost 12%
On Thursday, investors continued to reflect on Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's remarks at the Cato Institute's 40th Annual Monetary Conference in Washington
"The Fed has and is taking responsibility for price stability", Powell said, reaffirming the US central bank's commitment to reducing inflation. "We need to act now - openly and decisively"
Wall Street is increasingly expecting Fed officials to raise interest rates for the third consecutive time by 0.75% later this month, while a host of institutions are raising expectations about the scale of the Fed's base rate hike
Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Nomura have raised their forecasts for the rest of the year
"In our view, the unchanged guidance on when the pace of rate hikes may slow indicates that Chairman Powell and the Fed are comfortable with current market pricing," said BofA economists
In other markets, DocuSign (DOCU) shares rose 10.5% after the company late on Thursday posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and raised its subscription revenue forecast for the year
Shares in Zumiez (ZUMZ) reversed losses and rose 3.8% even after the retailer posted disappointing second-quarter results and lowered its third-quarter sales forecast. CEO Rick Brooks said that "inflation has weighed on consumer discretionary spending", which has put pressure on the company's US business