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The Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit records on Monday as Fed officials hinted at a rate cut in December.
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The Fed’s Bostic and Waller nodded to a rate cut this month, against a backdrop of balanced economic and inflation risks.
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Investors are focused on economic data and holiday sales, while the market anticipates the Fed’s decision.
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher on Monday, with technology stocks helping the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reach records, while Federal Reserve members talked about the potential for another rate cut later this month.
Fed President Raphael Bostic told reporters on Monday that while he has not yet decided whether to cut rates at the Fed’s FOMC meeting on December 18, he is keeping his “options open.”
“The risks to achieving the commission’s twin mandates of maximum employment and price stability have shifted to approximately equilibrium, so we must also begin to shift monetary policy toward a stance that neither stimulates nor limited,” Bostic wrote in an essay. released on Monday.
Meanwhile, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said Monday he is “leaning toward” a rate cut.
“Based on current economic data and forecasts showing that inflation will continue on its downward path towards 2 percent over the medium term, I am currently leaning towards supporting a cut in the policy rate at our meeting in December,” said one spokesperson for the US Department of State. forum in Washington.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets see a 77% chance of a Fed rate cut during the December 18 FOMC meeting. That chance was 65% earlier this morning.
With the third quarter earnings season largely over, investors will turn their attention to the economic data as the holiday shopping season heats up.
Here’s where the US indexes stood at 4pm on Monday:
Retail deal season continued after Black Friday, while Cyber Monday deals were set to take over this week.
According to data from Mastercard Spending Pulse, Black Friday saw a 3.4% year-over-year increase in U.S. retail sales, which includes both in-person and online sales.
Most of the Black Friday sales gain came from online sales, which rose 14.6%, compared to just a 0.7% increase in in-store sales, according to Mastercard.
“Black Friday was a good indication of how the holiday season is shaping up positively,” said Michelle Meyer, chief economist at the Mastercard Economics Institute.
