On Monday, Wall Street concluded its most recent winning quarter and month with even more records. The week began with a wild start for Asian financial markets, with Chinese indexes surging and Japanese stocks plunging, followed by a rise in U.S. stocks.
The S&P 500 achieved its fifth consecutive month of gains and fourth consecutive quarter of gains, rising 0.4 per cent to an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke its record on Friday by 17 points, or less than 0.1 per cent. Up 0.4 per cent was the Nasdaq composite.
The S&P 500
The S&P 500 rang the opening bell in the last trading session of September month on a good note with 5,528.93 points, which eventually went on to touch the all-time high of 5,767.37 points on the US bourse.
The Index rose more than 233 points in the month of September, amounting to a substantial move of 4.22 per cent in the last month. The expected gift of a slash in the interest rate from the Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, propelled the index to break life high levels.
The last trading session of the month ended on a positive note with a small gain of 24.31 points, resulting in the index hitting the closing bell at 5,762.48 points, translating into a 0.42 per cent gain in the final trading session of the month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a record-breaking September after recording a new life-time high of 42,628.32 points on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average started the month with a decline from the last trading session of August and eventually went on to touch the lowest level 40,345.41 in September; thereafter, it started to rally and ended with a 1,393.22 points, move in the entire month of September, resulting in the index closing the September trading session on 42,330.15 point, closing at an all-time high level.
The last trading session of September, the Dow Jones Industrial Average started with opening in the negative territory compared to the last closing and went on to touch the day-low of 41,955.72 points.
The closing bell was rung after the index somehow managed to close in the green territory with 17.15 points in positive, pushing the index to 42,330.15 points for the closing of the last trading in the month of September.
The Nasdaq Composite
The Nasdaq Composite index, which includes some of the most influential companies, including the magnificent seven, started the month of September with a declining start compared to the last session in August.
The index went on to touch a month low of 16,690.83 points on September 6 before it went on a rally, propelling the index to 18,189.17 points at the closing of the last trading session.
The Nasdaq Composite’s last trading session in September started with opening in the red zone of decline before recovering to green territory and ending with an acceptable accent of 69.58 points, which led the index to close in positive territory at 18,189.17 points.
Jerome Powell speech at National Association for Business Economics
More interest rate reductions are presumed, but Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated on Monday that they will happen gradually in order to maintain the strength of the economy.
Many investors were hoping that the Fed would lower its key rate by another sharp half-point before the end of the year, but his remarks at a National Association for Business Economics conference in Nashville, Tennessee, dashed those hopes.
The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates earlier this month by a larger-than-usual half point as it turned its focus from combating inflation to bolstering the labour signalling market.
In response to a question during a Q&A session, Powell stated, ‘We're looking at it as a process that will play out over some time; not something that we need to go fast on.’ Powell was speaking of the Fed's interest rate reductions. The speed at which we actually move will depend on the data.
The worrying factor for wall street
In the hopes that the sluggish U.S. economy can continue expanding while the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates to give it more impetus, Wall Street has surged to all-time highs. When the US government releases its most recent monthly report on the labour market on Friday, it will be a major test.
The top concern on Wall Street is whether a recession is already imminent for the economy. The Federal Reserve has already started to reduce hiring in the United States, despite having cut rates earlier this month and signalling that more relief is on the way.
The Federal Reserve had maintained interest rates at a two-decade high prior to this month in an attempt to curb excessive inflation by slowing the economy.
