U.S. stocks are rising, trying to rebound from their first down day in nine after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he isn’t ready to declare an end to interest rate increases.
At 09:36 ET (13:36 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69 points or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.2% and the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.4%.
The benchmark U.S. equity indices ended sharply lower Thursday, with the broad-based S&P breaking an eight-day winning streak, its longest series of consecutive positive days in two years, after Fed head Powell dashed investor enthusiasm over the end of interest rate increases.
The S&P 500 closed 0.8% lower, the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.9% and the 30-stock Dow fell 0.7%.
Powell punctures hopes of monetary easing
Powell, speaking at an International Monetary Fund event in Washington, D.C., suggested that the Fed may have more work to do to bring inflation down to its medium-term target.
“[The Fed] is committed to achieving a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2% over time,” Powell said.
“We are not confident that we have achieved such a stance. If it becomes appropriate to tighten policy further, we will not hesitate to do so.”
This dashed any hopes of an impending rate cut, and resulted in a jump in Treasury yields, with the longer-dated 10-year and 30-year yields both edging up by over 10 basis points.
There are more Fed speakers scheduled Friday, including Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and Atlanta’s Raphael Bostic, while the main economic data release will be the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for November.
Apple agrees to $25 million settlement
The quarterly earnings season is coming to an end, but Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) traded sharply lower, down 37%, after the hydrogen fuel-cell firm’s third-quarter revenue missed estimates.
Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) stock also slumped 14% as the gene-testing company trimmed its full-year profit forecast for the second straight quarter.
Additionally, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is set to pay up to $25 million to settle claims from the Justice Department that the tech giant favored hiring immigrant workers over American citizens and legal green card holders for some jobs. Shares rose 1.1%.
Oil heads for another losing week
Oil prices rose Friday, but were still heading for a third straight week of steep losses on persistent concerns over slowing global demand and resurgent fears of rising U.S. interest rates.
Both benchmarks are currently down over 5% this week, and on course for the longest weekly losing streak since a four-week drop from mid-April to early May.
