Stocks hit record for 2nd day, yields dip before Fed decision
Shares on Wall Street scaled record highs on Thursday, lifting stock markets around the world, while U.S. Treasuries yields retreated as investors processed a second Donald Trump presidency and awaited a Federal Reserve policy decision.
The Fed is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at the end of its policy meeting on Thursday, a decision that may seem a footnote given the uncertain economic terrain it may soon navigate under a second Trump administration.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.12%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.1%. All three indices hit new all-time highs for a second consecutive day. The MSCI index for world stocks climbed 0.8%, also to a record high.
Europe's broad STOXX 600 index was last up 0.8% after Asian shares gained earlier in the day, with even onshore Chinese blue chips rising 3% as investor optimism over potential stimulus outweighed concerns about worsening trade tensions.
Stocks are "rewarding the presumed likelihood of corporate tax cuts and perceiving a general penchant toward deregulation across industries as positive for earnings," said Naomi Fink, chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management.
Source: Reuters
