U.S. equities soared on Wednesday on positive investor sentiment following critical data that showed the U.S. economy is still robust and inflationary pressures are beginning to ease.
All S&P 500 sectors finished in the green except energy, which lost ground due to falling oil prices. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 2.73 per cent to 13,253, its highest level since May 5, almost avoiding bear market territory thanks to Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Apple.
Fears of a recession were eased by a strong ISM services survey, while inflation concerns were calmed by a decline in the prices paid component of the ISM. It was a great day for stocks, driven by tech, with strong equity momentum.
Key Factors for Today
– The bullish momentum in global equities carried over to Asian markets, lifting Asian stocks higher.
– Futures for European equities indicate a higher market opening.
– GBP steady ahead of BOE meeting.
Coming Up
– Euro Zone & UK Construction PMI
– Canadian Trade Balance
– BoE Policy Announcement
– Speeches from ECB’s Elderson & Fed’s Mester
Opec-Plus decides to increase supply minimally.
A nominal increase of 100,000 barrels per day was agreed upon by the Opec-Plus group on Wednesday, which was in line with market expectations. Because of the small size of the increase, they said that agreement was reached quickly. In addition, they said that the group’s cohesion was solid. Saudi Arabia and other members of the alliance were reportedly concerned about losing Russia as a member if they tried to expand output too much to appease US President Joe Biden after his visit last month.
According to reports, the Chinese military has begun drills around Taiwan.
The live-fire military drills are expected to end on Sunday at noon local time. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also began with military drills and “special operations.” This might be a Chinese military warning. Pelosi’s safe arrival in Taiwan has calmed markets. In the following days, anxious eyes will still monitor the area.
The ongoing Solana hack affects 8,000 wallets and Bitcoin falls below $23,000.
Users’ ability to transfer assets between blockchains has been a target of cyberattacks on blockchain bridges. Solana’s SOL token and USD Coin (USDC) are among the $5.2 million in digital money stolen from a total of approximately 8,000 digital wallets, according to CNBC, citing blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. Solana Status acknowledged the hack on Twitter.
Walmart is laying off hundreds of employees as part of a restructuring effort.
Workers at the company’s headquarters and other locations in Bentonville, Ark., have been informed of the restructuring, which impacts merchandising, global technology, and real-estate teams. According to a Walmart spokesperson, some positions were eliminated as the company is restructuring, but the company was also investing in other areas and creating some new positions to mitigate the media fallout.
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