US STOCKS-Wall St climbs with focus on inflation data, Fed decision

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12/06/2023 17:45

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      Fed expected to hold rates this week 
    

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      Consumer prices data for May due on Tuesday
    

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      Nasdaq Inc slides on Adenza buyout deal 
    

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      Indexes up: Dow 0.21%, S&P 0.36%, Nasdaq 0.71%
    

  
 (Updated at 12:13 p.m. ET (1613 GMT)
    By Shristi  Achar A and Sruthi Shankar
       June 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on
Monday, extending a recent rally, as investors awaited inflation
data and the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision this week,
while Oracle hit a record high ahead of quarterly results later
in the day. 
    The U.S. Labor Department's consumer price index reading on
Tuesday, first day of the Fed's two-day meeting, is expected to
show inflation cooled slightly in May but core prices likely
remained sticky.    
    Traders see a 76% chance of the central bank holding rates
at the 5%-5.25% range on Wednesday, while pricing in a 56%
chance of a 25-basis-point increase in July, according to the
CME Fedwatch tool. 
    "I expect this Fed meeting to be in line with market
expectations, which is a pause and re-evaluation for the future
that could change based on CPI data tomorrow," said Dylan
Kremer, co-chief investment officer of Certuity.  
    "There's a chance that the Fed will stay data dependent. So
we don't necessarily think that a rate hike is off the table in
the future, but for the near term we just see them staying
steady." 
    The benchmark S&P 500  .SPX  notched gains for a fourth
straight week on Friday, building on a 20% rise from its October
2022 lows, heralding the start of a new bull market as defined
by some market participants.
    A rally in megacap stocks, better-than-expected quarterly
earnings and hopes that the Fed might be nearing the end of its
monetary tightening cycle have lifted indexes in recent weeks. 
    Since last week, the rally has broadened to include more
economically sensitive sectors such as energy and industrials,
as well as small-cap stocks as data continues to show a
resilient U.S. economy despite higher interest rates.
    Goldman Sachs on Friday raised its year-end price target for
the benchmark S&P 500  .SPX  to 4,500 from 4,000, citing the
broadening of the market rally.
    The CBOE volatility index  .VIX  edged up after hitting
pre-pandemic levels in the previous week, up 0.68 point at
14.51.
    Oracle  ORCL.N  advanced 6.4% to hit an all-time high as
J.P. Morgan hiked its price target to $109, ahead of the cloud
and enterprise software firm's fourth-quarter results later in
the day. 
    Technology  .SPLRCT  and consumer discretionary stocks
 .SPLRCD  led gains among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500,
while energy stocks  .SPNY  fell 1.2%, tracking a decline in
crude prices.  O/R 
    At 12:13 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI 
was up 71.54 points, or 0.21%, at 33,948.32, the S&P 500  .SPX 
was up 15.50 points, or 0.36%, at 4,314.36, and the Nasdaq
Composite  .IXIC  was up 94.23 points, or 0.71%, at 13,353.37.
    Nasdaq Inc  NDAQ.O  slumped 13.5% after the exchange
operator said it would buy software firm Adenza for $10.5
billion, which analysts called an expensive bet.
    Biogen  BIIB.O  shares edged up 1.6% after a U.S. FDA panel
of advisers unanimously backed its Alzheimer's drug, Leqembi,
raising hopes that a traditional approval for the treatment
might not come with major new safety warnings.
    Broadcom Inc  AVGO.O  gained 4.5% as the chipmaker is set to
gain conditional EU antitrust approval for its $61 billion
proposed acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware  VMW.N .
    Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.09-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.37-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
    The S&P index recorded 12 new 52-week highs and three new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 83 new highs and 52 new lows.

 (Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Sriraj Kalluvila)
 ((Shristi.AcharA@thomsonreuters.com;))