Wall Street advances with indexes on track for weekly gains; FedEx jumps on earnings
NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Friday (Sep 19) and were on track for weekly gains, with FedEx climbing after strong results and Apple boosted by an analyst upgrade.
FedEx gained 2.6 per cent after reporting quarterly profit and revenue above estimates, helped by cost-cutting and strong domestic deliveries that offset weaker international volumes.
Apple added 3.1 per cent after J.P. Morgan raised its price target, while gains in Palantir Technologies and Oracle lifted the S&P 500’s technology sector.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by technology and utilities, up 0.78 per cent and 0.54 per cent respectively. Energy stocks fell 1.37 per cent.
FED CUT AND SMALL-CAP MOVES
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were heading for a third straight week of gains, supported by the Federal Reserve’s first rate cut of 2025 and renewed optimism over artificial intelligence stocks.
Wall Street had wavered earlier in the session as investors digested the Fed’s outlook and remarks from new governor and White House economic adviser Stephen Miran on CNBC.
“Certainly if the idea is the Fed is moving in a direction to relax the inflation target, that is definitely a recipe for running hot, and that’s good for stocks,” said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments.
At 2.27pm EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.27 per cent to 46,268.31, the S&P 500 gained 0.28 per cent to 6,650.62 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.41 per cent to 22,563.66.
The Russell 2000 small-cap index slipped 0.64 per cent after briefly touching an intraday record. It had closed at a record high on Thursday, its first since November 2021.
“Small caps have been trading inversely with rates, and it’s just the idea of small caps benefiting disproportionately from lower interest rates,” Ladner added.
TRADE TALKS AND CORPORATE MOVERS
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Friday, their first call since June. Trump said the two leaders made progress on a TikTok deal and agreed to meet next month in South Korea.
Wall Street’s three main indexes are positive so far in September, a month typically weak for US equities. Since 2000, the S&P 500 has on average lost 1.4 per cent during the month, according to LSEG data.
Lennar fell 4 per cent after the homebuilder reported weaker third-quarter earnings and forecast fourth-quarter home deliveries below expectations.
Paramount Skydance rose 5.6 per cent following a CNBC report with details of a potential bid for Warner Bros Discovery, which gained 1.3 per cent.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by 1.64 to 1 on the NYSE and by 1.52 to 1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and 12 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 123 new highs and 37 new lows.
