Investing.com – Wall Street cashed in a third day of gains on Wednesday that brought the Dow and S&P up to par with the Nasdaq in positive territory for the month of September as markets continued to celebrate the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision to hold off on its return to policy normalization.
At 11:33AM ET (15:33GMT), the Dow Jones gained 109 points, or 0.60%, while the S&P 500 advanced 11 points, or 0.51%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded up 31 points, or 0.64%.
Market participants continued to applaud the Fed’s decision to leave rates unchanged and the reduction to policy maker’s forecasts for just one move this year.
That despite the fact that, in an unusual move, three of its voting members dissented on the decision and Fed chair Janet Yellen gave clear indications that a rate hike should happen this year.
With the September meeting over and done with, eyes shifted to the November and December meetings, with most economists assuming that the Fed will hold off until the end of the year due to upcoming presidential election and the fact that the next meeting does not include a press conference.
According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, Fed fund futures price in only a 12.4% chance of a move in November, a far cry from the nearly 20% discounted in the previous week. Meanwhile, December continued to be the market’s best bet with odds for a hike at 58.4%.
The probabilities for both meetings remained stable even after economic data released on Thursday.
Jobless claims surprised with another drop to its lowest level since last July, remaining below the 300,000 level associated with a firming labor market for an 81st consecutive week, its longest stretch since 1970.
On the downside, existing home sales unexpectedly fell in August to its second lowest pace of 2016, missing consensus forecasts.
"Existing-home sales eased up in August for the second consecutive month despite mortgage rates near record lows as higher home prices and not enough inventory for sale kept some would-be buyers at bay," the National Association of Realtors said.
In company news, Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) shrugged off a report on Thursday that the internet portal will be announcing a massive data breach this week and moved slightly higher.
In big moves on earnings, Red Hat Inc (NYSE:RHT) jumped more than 4% on Thursday after a 20% increase in subscription revenue helped it beat consensus on the top and bottom line.
On the downside, Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL) slumped 4% Thursday after fiscal fourth quarter revenue dropped 5.3%.
Meanwhile, oil surged 2% on Thursday, continuing to benefit from surprise drops in U.S. crude inventories and the weaker dollar.
Oil prices typically strengthen when the U.S. currency weakens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Also supporting prices were comments by Iraq's OPEC governor Falah Alamri that showed optimism on the possibility of reaching an accord at the informal meeting next week, while Iran and Saudi Arabia were reportedly meeting this week to set up a deal towards that end.
U.S. crude oil futures jumped 2.29% to $46.38 by 11:34AM ET (15:34GMT), while Brent oil rose 1.75% to $47.65.