Wall Street ends higher, with all eyes on Jackson Hole

[August 25, 2022]  By Noel Randewich and Bansari Mayur Kamdar

(Reuters) - Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, lifted by gains in energy stocks and Intuit while investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole conference this week.

Boosting the tech-heavy Nasdaq, Intuit Inc rallied almost 4% after the accounting software maker forecast upbeat fiscal 2023 revenue.

After the bell, Salesforce Inc dipped 5.5% following its quarterly report. During the trading session, the business software seller had gained 2.3%.

All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by energy, up 1.2%, followed by a 0.71% gain in real estate.

The S&P 500 lost ground in the previous three sessions after a summer rally was halted by growing concerns of an aggressive stance by the Fed, an energy crisis in Europe and signs of economic slowdown in China.

Investor are now focused be on the Jackson Hole symposium that begins on Thursday, with remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday potentially providing clues about the pace of future rate hikes and whether the central bank can achieve a "soft landing" for the economy.

"The market is biding its time to get more information on the most important things, which are inflation and the Fed's rate path," said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.

Traders are divided between expecting a 50-basis point hike and a 75-basis point hike by the U.S. central bank. [FEDWATCH]

President Joe Biden said the U.S. government will forgive $10,000 in student loans for many debt-saddled college-goers, a move that could boost support for his fellow Democrats in the November congressional elections but also may fuel inflation.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 22, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Helped by corporate quarterly results that were not as bad as feared, the S&P 500 has recovered 13% from its mid-June lows. The benchmark index is set to end the year a little above its current level, according to strategists recently polled by Reuters.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.29% to end the session at 4,140.77 points.

The Nasdaq gained 0.41% to 12,431.53 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.18% to 32,969.23 points.

Peloton Interactive surged over 20% after the stationary bike company said it would sell its products on Amazon in a bid to boost sales that have dropped following the end of pandemic lockdowns.

Nordstrom Inc tumbled almost 20% after the retailer cut its annual revenue and profit forecasts, a sign that inflation is squeezing consumer spending on its high-end clothing and footwear.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 by a 2.5-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted two new highs and 30 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 42 new highs and 104 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 8.9 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 10.9 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar, Devik Jain and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru and by Noel Randewich in Oakland, Calif.; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Marguerita Choy)

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