US stocks rally on cooling inflation figures
Wall Street stocks rallied on Tuesday after data showed cooling in US inflation, bolstering expectations that the upcoming Federal Reserve monetary decision will be benign. Consumer inflation in the United States eased for an 11th straight month on an annual basis in May, reaching its lowest level in around two years. Following the data release, futures markets showed that traders overwhelmingly expect the Fed to hold steady on interest rates at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday, not hiking for the first time in more than a year. The Dow Jones finished up 0.4 percent at 34,212. The S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent to 4,369, while the Nasdaq jumped 0.8 percent to 13,573. Expectations for a Fed pause on Wednesday has generated talk that the market could be primed for a broadening of the equity rally beyond the tech sector, which has led stocks in 2023. "One of the key themes of this rally has been that it's been very narrow, that it was just a few stocks," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. "Investors are now starting to look outside of just the tech stocks. Investors are looking at places to rotate into other sectors that might be earning money," he added. Tuesday's strongest segments included materials and industrials, with 10 of 11 sectors advancing. Among individual companies, Oracle shares climbed 0.2 percent as it reported an 18 percent rise in annual revenues. The tech giant pointed to strong demand for its cloud computing products. Bunge Limited advanced 2.5 percent after it announced a transaction to acquire rival agribusiness company Viterra for more than US$8 billion, to create a global powerhouse in the food commodities trading sector. (AFP)