Wall St Ends Higher as Fed, Jobs Firm Rate-Cut Hopes

U.S. stocks inched higher Wednesday amid range-bound trading after investors parsed a steep downward revision in payrolls, and the release of the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve, which cemented expectations for a September rate cut.

All three major U.S. stock indexes closed modestly higher.

"The seasonality of things, waiting for Jackson Hole, waiting to see whether there will be a Fed cut in September or not - it’s causing bulls and bears to sit on the sidelines," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors in New York. "There’s no compelling reason to do anything right now."

The Fed released minutes from its most recent monetary policy meeting in July, at which members of the Federal Open Market Committee elected to keep the key interest rate unchanged.

The July meeting occurred before the disappointing employment report for that month and a host of economic reports pointing to cooling inflation and a softening but resilient economy.

Even so, the minutes suggest Fed officials were already strongly leaning toward a rate cut at the meeting scheduled for September.

They also set the stage for the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium to convene on Thursday, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak on Friday.

In economic news, the Labor Department released its preliminary benchmark revision to payrolls data for the 12 months through March 2024.

The revision lowered the 2.9 million payroll adds originally reported by 818,000. It was the steepest preliminary downward revision since the global financial crisis, and suggested that the apparent softening in the labor market could be more pronounced than previously assumed.

"Prior to today’s labor market data, the enthusiasm around Powell’s speech (on Friday) was probably fairly muted," said Pursche. "That changed today.

"This revision, which was a big number, is putting Chairman Powell in a position where he's going to have to talk about the outlook for the labor market," Pursche added.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 22.54 points, or 0.40%, to end at 5,619.66 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 101.27 points, or 0.57%, to 17,918.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 58.99 points, or 0.14%, to 40,893.96.

Target raised its 2024 profit forecast and posted its first quarterly increase in same-store sales in over a year, boosting the retailer's stock.

TJX Cos rose after the discount retailer lifted its annual profit forecast.

Macy's lowered its annual net sales forecast, sending shares of the department store chain sliding.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com dropped after Walmart, the company's biggest shareholder, sold its stake in the firm.

Ford Motor announced it was shaking up its electric vehicle plans. Its stock advanced following the announcement.