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Stocks continue to climb higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s latest comments on the critical need to curb inflation. Investors seem to have been sensitized to the Fed’s aggressive stance on inflation to a large extent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is up 1.1%, while the S&P 500 (SPX) is up 1.3%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) is leading, with a gain of 1.7%.
Shares of DocuSign (NASDAQ: DOCU) continued to trend higher on Friday, up 8% after an impressive Q3 earnings beat on Thursday.
What Happened on Thursday
At a virtual conference, Mr. Powell once again highlighted the criticality of curbing the climbing prices and reiterated his commitment to not make inflation a norm for the public.
The comments expectedly led to a certain level of choppiness in the market. However, the major indexes managed to end Thursday’s regular trading session with net gains.
The S&P 500 grew 0.66% while the Dow and the Nasdaq 100 advanced 0.61% and 0.5%, respectively.
What Investors Might Be Thinking
Despite the relative optimism in the market, stocks continue to be under pressure as the double risk of rising interest rate amid slowing economic growth remain rife. On Thursday, the European Central Bank made a 75 basis-point interest rate hike, increasing the expectations of another similar rate lift in the U.S.
That said, several experts believe that the Fed is not as aggressive with its policy as investors think, yet. The real Fed interest rate is not yet in the positive territory so a few 75 basis point hikes should not be a major economic blow.
Job Market Stands Strong
Meanwhile, the U.S. job market looks as good as ever. The weekly jobless claims from the week ended September 3 fell to its lowest in three months, at 222,000. This was lower than the preceding week’s number of 228,000 and below the consensus expectations of 235,000-240,000.