Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Thursday as investors awaited business activity data and the Federal Reserve chairman’s testimony to Congress.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 87.20 points, or 0.29%, at the open at 30,570.33.
The S&P 500 .SPX opened higher 14.82 points, or 0.39%, at 3,774.71, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 84.60 points, or 0.77%, at 11,137.68. at the opening bell.
The Labor Department said fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the US labor market remains strong.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before Congress for a second day. On Wednesday, Powell said a recession was “certainly a possibility” as the US central bank tries to rein in inflation.
Last week, the Fed raised its benchmark rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, three times its usual margin and the biggest increase in nearly three decades.
Investors worry that rate hikes in the United States and Europe could derail global growth, but Powell said it is “absolutely essential” for the Fed to restore price stability.
“We now anticipate the most aggressive and synchronized tightening cycle” by global central banks since the 1980s, said Jennifer McKeown of Capital Economics in a report. “The key question now is not whether central banks will hit the brakes, but what could stop them.”
In midday trading, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% and the Paris CAC rose 0.5%. The Frankfurt DAX fell 0.3%.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.6% to 3,320.15 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added less than 0.1% to 26,171.25. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.3% to 21,273.87.
Seoul’s Kospi fell 1.2% to 2,314.32 while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 6,528.40.
India’s Sensex gained 0.7% to 52,194.52. New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta advanced while Bangkok fell.
[Con información de The Associated Press y Reuters]
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