Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise, Fed fires up rally

live8 updates

• Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 12:50 PM EDT

  Bitcoin rises 6% to trade above $63,000

  Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose more than 6% on Thursday to trade above $63,000 per token amid an overall market rally following the Federal Reserve’s jumbo rate cut.

  Increasing hopes of a ‘soft landing’ helped fuel Thursday’s rally, lifting cryptocurrencies along with other risk assets.

  Bitcoin is up more than 40% year-to-date, though the cryptocurrency remains volatile following its all-time high above $73,000 in mid-March.

  The token traded below $54,000 earlier this month.

• 

  Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 12:22 PM EDT

  Mortgage rates are close to 6% following Fed rate cuts

  Claire Boston of Yahoo Finance reports:

  Average 30-year fixed mortgage rates fell again this week to 6.09%, although the move was not directly linked to the Federal Reserve’s rate cut on Wednesday.

  The average rate fell 0.11 percent from a week earlier, leaving the average at its lowest level since early February 2023, according to Freddie Mac data released Thursday.

  Fifteen-year mortgage rates also fell to 5.15% from 5.27% a week ago.

  Read more here.

• 

  Thursday, September 19, 2024 11:29 AM EDT

  Bank stocks rise on Fed’s interest rate cut

  David Hollerith of Yahoo Finance reports:

  U.S. bank stocks rose on Thursday following a jumbo rate cut from the Federal Reserve, a sign of volatility among investors who expect the easing of monetary policy to boost Wall Street giants and smaller regional lenders.

  Goldman Sachs ( GS ), Capital One ( COF ) and Citigroup ( C ) rose more than 3% Thursday morning, followed by Wells Fargo ( WFC ), Bank of America ( BAC ), JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ), and Morgan Stanley (MS).

  Read more here.

  

• 

  Thursday, September 19, 2024 11:17 AM EDT

  Unemployment is at its lowest in 4 months, a good sign for the job market

  Investors looking for signs of a “soft landing” pointed to the latest Initial unemployment claims The data showed jobless claims fell to their lowest level since May.

  The Labor Department reported 219,000 for the week ended Sept. 19, beating expectations for 230,000. The previous week’s total was revised up 1,000 to 231,000.

  A drop in initial jobless claims indicates that the labor market is better than expected.

  On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points, raising questions about whether policymakers are opting for a bigger cut amid a weak job market.

  During Wednesday’s press conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the unemployment rate had risen, but remained relatively low at 4.2%. Powell described the economy as “fundamentally sound.”

• 

  Thursday, September 19, 2024 10:47 AM EDT

  Stocks are nearing session highs as technicals fuel the post-rate-cut price slide

  Stocks rose Thursday morning as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) led market gains following the Federal Reserve’s rate cut announcement in the previous session.

  The Nasdaq gained as much as 2.7% as tech stocks, which generally benefit from a low-interest rate environment, rose.

  The Dow (^DJI) rose more than 1% to hit an all-time intraday high, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) hit a record in early trade.

  

• 

  Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. EDT

  Existing home sales fall in August amid low mortgage rates

  Existing home sales fell in August as house hunters were put on the sidelines, despite mortgage rates hitting their lowest level in a year.

  Existing home sales fell 2.5% from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.86 million. National Association of Realtors Thursday, the lowest since October. Existing home sales are expected to hit 3.9 million in August, according to a poll by Bloomberg.

  On a year-over-year basis, sales of previously owned homes retreated 4.2% in August. The median home price rose 3.1% from last August to $416,700, the 14th straight month of annual price gains.

  A combination of scarce inventory, rising prices and elevated mortgage rates continues to weigh on sales activity — for now.

  “Home sales disappointed again in August, but the recent development of low mortgage rates and rising inventories is a powerful combination that should boost sales in the coming months,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a press release. .

  However, economists Fannie Mae Don’t expect sales activity to pick up this year despite low mortgage rates.

  “We expect existing home sales to slow in 2024 to the slowest annual pace since 1995,” they said.

• 

  Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 9:54 am EDT

  Growth-chasing Campbell Soup is battling private labels and big-name rivals

  Brooke DiPalma of Yahoo Finance reports:

  Companies are stepping up competition in grocery aisles, with products ranging from stuffing-flavored chips to ghost pepper chicken noodle soup.

  While retailers like Walmart ( WMT ) and Target ( TGT ) are pushing ahead with private labels, Campbell’s ( CPB ) is doubling down on innovation, marketing and increased distribution to sell popular brands like Goldfish.

  “It all comes down to … creating the right value [is] “It’s not just about one price point,” CEO Mark Clouse told Yahoo Finance last week at Campbell’s Investor Day. “It’s about how do we add value in different and sustainable ways?”

  Read more here.

• 

  Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 9:31 am EDT

  Dow, S&P 500 hit intraday record highs as jumbo rate cut lifts stocks

  The Dow (^DJI) and S&P 500 (^GSPC) hit record highs on Thursday as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s announcement of a 50-basis-point rate cut earlier in the session.

  The S&P 500 rose nearly 1.7%, while the Dow gained more than 1%, both hitting record highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) gained more than 2.3%.

  Key averages were seen during the previous session following the central bank’s decision to cut rates.

  Gold (CG=F) hit an all-time high. Precious metals and other commodities rose as the dollar weakened.