Wall Street Soars To Life High: Jerome Powell Says 'Assurance Needed Before Rate Cuts'

Major indices reached all-time highs as Wall Street stocks soared on Tuesday, July 2. Statements made by Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, suggest that interest rate reductions were likely to have fueled this bullish movement.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent to 5,509.01, marking an all-time high. With a gain of 0.8 per cent to 18,028.76, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index also set a new record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 per cent to 39,331.85. Tesla shares saw a significant increase, which contributed to the market's further upswing.

Jerome Powell

Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that the Fed has made significant headway in bringing inflation back down to the central bank's target, but he added that before rate-cutting can begin, greater assurance that inflation is on a sustained downward path would be required.

US monthly jobs data

With nonfarm payrolls on Friday, the marks arrive just one day before the minutes of the Federal Reserve's June meeting and detailed information about the labor market.

Prior to the release of the monthly jobs report, a measure of labor demand revealed that there were 8.14 million job openings and labor turnover in May, up from 7.92 million in April.
Despite sticky inflation and high interest rates, the labor market has been booming, and the Fed will likely take this into account when lowering interest rates.

Upcoming macro data

The May trade deficit, June non-manufacturing PMI, and June global services PMI are all scheduled for release. The minutes of the most recent FOMC meeting, which are also slated for release later on Wednesday, will be a significant piece of information, though.