Most U.S. stocks
finished in green on Thursday, with the Dow Jones hitting 27,000 points for the
first time ever, on hopes of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later
this month, especially after the testimony of the Fed Chairman.
Federal Reserve
Chairman Jerome Powell strengthened rate cut hopes with his testimony before
the Senate Banking Committee Thursday and House Financial Services Committee
Wednesday.
Once again, Powell
delivered the same message today, as he said the central bank was prepared to
cut interest rates to support the economy.
"Uncertainties
around trade tensions and concerns about the strength of the global economy
continue to weigh on the U.S. economic outlook," Powell said while testifying
for a second day before Congress.
By the same
token, Fed minutes for June meeting released on Wednesday said: “Several”
policy makers said a near-term rate cut was warranted from a risk-management
perspective because it “could help cushion the effects of possible future adverse
shocks to the economy.”
However, President
Donald Trump tweeted earlier in the session, complaining about China trade
policy which fluctuated the stocks somehow, saying "China letting us down
in that they have not been buying the agricultural products from our great farmers
that they said they would."
At the end of
the trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.85 percent, or 227.81
points, to 27,088.01 and the S&P 500 increased by 0.19 percent to 2,996.24,
while the Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 8,196.04 after dropping 0.08
percent.
Microsoft,
Nvidia Corp. and Apple enhanced the rally in the tech sector. Also, a 5.3-percent
gain in UnitedHealth Group helped the Dow break above 27,000 points for the
first time. Cigna Corp surged 9%.
As of 16:00 EST, the US dollar index, which
measures the value of the dollar against six major currencies, declined by 0.05
percent to 97.05.
