GAGA Share Market News

[hfe_template id='11223'] [ad_1] Wall Street shares pulled back from record highs hit early on Thursday in sympathy with rallying overseas indexes, as Treasury yields shook off soft U.S. data and rose anticipating new supply next week. The dollar firmed, as higher U.S. yields widened differentials with non-dollar rates that are trending lower. It drew closer to the 160 yen area that prompted Tokyo to intervene in late April to support its currency. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the only major index that held gains. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq extended their string of intraday all-time highs before reversing, and the Nasdaq ended a seven-session streak of record closing highs. Disappointing housing starts and building permits data, along with a jobless claims report suggested a gradual cooling in the labor market, appeared to make the case that the Fed's restrictive policy is having its intended effect. "The weaker-than-expected economic data is suggestin...

[hfe_template id='11223'] [ad_1] Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists have boosted their year-end target for the S&P 500 Index for a third time, reflecting Wall Street’s optimistic outlook for earnings growth and the US economy. The bank’s equity strategists led by David Kostin now see the US stock benchmark index finishing the year at 5,600, up from a 5,200 level they predicted in February. The new target implies a roughly 3% advance in the gauge from its Friday close. Goldman’s upgraded target ties with that from UBS Group AG’s Jonathan Golub and BMO Capital Markets’ Brian Belski for the highest on Wall Street. The upgrade in the target is “driven by milder-than-average negative earnings revisions and a higher fair value P/E multiple,” Kostin, the firm’s chief US equity strategist, wrote in a note to clients on Friday. Bloomberg The upgrade comes one month after Kostin reiterated the firm’s 5,200 target, stating there was no further room for upside in the 500-memb...

[hfe_template id='11223'] [ad_1] Economists at Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., some of the last holdouts predicting a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut in July, have relented. After Friday’s release of stronger-than-anticipated May employment data, Citigroup now sees US policymakers making their first move in September, while JPMorgan looks for no change until November. “We are shifting our base case for the first rate cut from July to September,” Andrew Hollenhorst, Citigroup’s chief US economist, said in a report Friday. While the labor market and US economy both appear to be slowing, “surprisingly strong job growth” last month will probably stay the Fed’s hand while “waiting for more data on slower activity and inflation.” JPMorgan’s chief US economist Michael Feroli, also in a Friday report, said “the recent momentum in job growth” suggests that the “broader” labor-market weakening the Fed has said could warrant a rate cut may take more than three months...

[hfe_template id='11223'] [ad_1] Asian shares held a mixed tone on Tuesday after rallying the previous session, as rising bets of an imminent European rate cut helped risk appetite ahead of some key inflation data. A slew of European Central Bank officials said overnight the ECB has room to cut interest rates as inflation slows, underscoring expectations for a rate cut on June 6. With debate now shifting to subsequent moves, markets have fully priced in two rates cuts by October this year. That helped Wall Street stock futures firm ahead of the reopening of U.S. markets after a public holiday. S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% and Nasdaq futures gained 0.2% before a line-up of Federal Reserve speakers later in the day for the latest guidance on rate outlook. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%, thanks to a 0.7% gain in Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, after gaining 0.9% on Monday. Japan's Nikkei, on the other hand, slipped 0.3%, rev...

[hfe_template id='11223'] [ad_1] Wall Street's three major indexes notched record closes on Wednesday with the benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both advancing more than 1%, after a smaller-than-expected rise in consumer inflation bolstered investors' hopes for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. All three indexes hit intraday record highs with technology stocks leading the charge. The blue-chip Dow drew closer to the 40,000 milestone. Tepid U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for April fueled optimism that inflation was easing after three months of higher-than-expected numbers. This led traders to raise bets that the Fed will cut its policy rate in September and December. "It's a relief we didn't have a fourth hot CPI report," said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer at the BMO family office in Minneapolis. "Clearly markets liked that the inflation numbers looked softer. Retail sales came in softer. It's pretty clear ev...

[hfe_template id='11223'] [ad_1] Federal Reserve officials are poised to keep interest rates steady for a sixth consecutive meeting and signal no plans for cuts in the near future after higher-than-expected inflation. The Federal Open Market Committee will hold the target range for its benchmark rate at 5.25% to 5.5% — a two-decade high first reached in July — at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting Wednesday. The rate decision, and possibly an announcement on the pace of its balance-sheet reduction program, will be released at 2 p.m. in Washington. Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference 30 minutes later. Policymakers are reluctant to begin lowering borrowing costs until they’re certain inflation is closing in on 2%, the rate they see as appropriate for a healthy economy. While they had penciled in three 2024 rate cuts as recently as March, Powell is likely to indicate those plans are on hold and will depend on an improvement in inflation. Bloomberg “Th...

[hfe_template id='11223'] [ad_1] Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Tuesday, underpinned by overnight strong finish on Wall Street, while investors await the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day meeting to determine the fate of the yen. The Nikkei rose 1.24% to close at 38,405.66. The index marked its first monthly decline this year, falling 4.99% in April in its biggest monthly drop since December 2022. The broader Topix jumped 2.2% to 2,743.17. "The U.S. equities were strong since the end of the last week, while the U.S. yields traded lower. That underpinned Japanese stocks today," Shoji Hosoi, senior strategist, Daiwa Securities said. Markets in Japan were closed on Monday. Shares of chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose 2.6%. Silicon-wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical surged 4.89% and technology investor SoftBank Group gained 1.71%. The markets' focus is now on the U.S. Fed's policy meeting this week after Japan's curr...