World News | Stock Market Today: Wall Street Gains Ground, but Still Headed for a Loss in August

New York, Aug 31 (AP) Stocks rose modestly in morning trading on Wall Street Thursday and are on track to end a mostly miserable August on an up note.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent. The benchmark index still on track for its first monthly loss since February, but has chipped away at the severity of the decline after four straight gains.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 119 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 35,009 as of 10:13 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq rose 0.3 per cent.

Technology and communications stocks led the gains. Software company Salesforce jumped 5.4 per cent after raising its profit forecast for the year. Cloud-based security company CrowdStrike rose 7.9 per cent after reporting strong financial results.

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Dollar General was among several retailers slipping after reporting weak earnings and forecasts. It slumped 16 per cent after cutting its profit forecast for the year.

The government reported that a measure of inflation closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained low in July. The latest update for personal consumption and expenditures, or the PCE report, is the latest sign that price increases are cooling. Investors are hoping the Fed may be close to done raising interest rates.

The central bank has raised its main interest rate aggressively since 2022 to the highest level since 2001. The goal has been to rein inflation back to the Fed's target of 2 per cent. PCE measured 3.3 per cent in July, matching economists expectations. That's down from 7 per cent a year ago.

The latest inflation data follows data on jobs and consumer confidence this week that also supports hopes for the Fed to pause interest rate hikes. The central bank held rates steady at its last meeting and is expected to do the same in September. Investors are expecting rates to hold steady for the remainder of 2023, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

Bond yields were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.11 per cent from late Wednesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which tracks expectations for the Fed, edged higher to 4.89 per cent from 4.88 per cent late Thursday.

Wall Street has one more big economic update to look forward to this week. On Friday, the government will report employment data for August.

Markets in Europe were mixed. Annual inflation there held steady in August as food prices raced ahead of falling fuel costs, but there was no clarity about whether the European Central Bank will pause its record series of interest rate hikes.

Asian markets were also mixed. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)