By Noël Randewich
(Reuters) -Wall Street stocks rose and the Dow Jones posted a second straight all-time high on Friday, with Tesla (NASDAQ:) and Amazon rising as new U.S. economic data raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates modestly in September decrease .
US consumer spending rose strongly in July, indicating that the economy remained strong while prices rose moderately.
“Investors are seeing another sign of a soft landing,” said Cameron Dawson, chief investment officer at Newedge Wealth. “It’s another Goldilocks-esque report that really misses the mark. The market is really getting exactly what it wanted.”
A “just right” Goldilocks economy has steady growth, but not so much that it fuels excessive inflation.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:) and Tesla each rose more than 3%.
Broadcom (NASDAQ:) rose nearly 4%, while Marvell (NASDAQ:) Technology rose 9% after the chipmaker forecast quarterly results above expectations.
The personal consumption expenditure report came Friday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell expressed support for an impending policy adjustment last week.
Next week’s economic data will include the Labor Department’s August jobs report, due Friday.
Money markets suggest that traders mainly expect the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points in September, with the chances of a 50 basis point cut decreasing further after Friday’s data, according to CME Group’s (NASDAQ:) FedWatch Tool.
A tumultuous month ended on Friday on Wall Street after signs of a sudden moderation in the labor market in early August sparked fears of a US recession. The influence of the Japanese yen carry trade worsened the defeat.
Since then, shares have recovered, with trading reaching near record highs.
Ahead of the Labor Day holiday, volume on US stock markets was relatively low, with 11.2 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 11.4 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.01% to end at 5,648.40 points.
The Index rose by 1.13% to 17,713.62 points, while the index rose by 0.55% to 41,563.08 points.
All eleven sector indexes of the S&P 500 rose 1.9%, led by consumer discretionary, followed by a 1.1% gain in industrials.
This month, the S&P 500 rose 2.3%, the Dow Jones rose 1.8% and the Nasdaq climbed 0.6%.
Nvidia (NASDAQ:) rose 1.5%, recovering from a 6.4% decline on Thursday after its artificial intelligence chip failed to match skyrocketing investor expectations despite positive results and a largely in-line prediction.
Novavax (NASDAQ:) rose 8.6% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for an updated version of its COVID shot.
Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:) fell 4% after lowering its annual earnings forecasts, citing declining demand for higher-priced cosmetics and perfumes in its stores.
Intel (NASDAQ:) rose nearly 10% after a report that it was exploring options that could include a merger.
Dell Technologies (NYSE:), another AI-related stock, rose 4.3% after raising its annual revenue and earnings forecasts.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, majority owned by former US President Donald Trump, fell 1.7% to a record low, leaving its market value at $3.9 billion.
Within the S&P 500, rising issues outpaced declining issues by a ratio of 6.6 to one.
The S&P 500 recorded 79 new highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 84 new highs and 77 new lows.
