Dow Jones Industrial Average advances with investors awaiting key inflation data
- Dow Jones is leading gains in pre-holiday session on Wednesday.
- Wall Street Indexes are trading higher with one eye on Fed Governor Waller’s speech later today
- Investors are looking from the sidelines ahead of Friday’s PCE Prices Index data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is leading the major US stock indexes higher early in a calm trading session on Wednesday. Later today, Federal Reserve Governor, Christopher Waller is expected to provide some distraction ahead of the release of the PCE Prices Index report, due on Friday.
The Dow Jones Index is trading 0.7% higher at 39,563 but still at a significant distance from the 39,900 historic high reached last week. The S&P 500 Index is 0.36% up, at 5,221while the NASDAQ-100 Tech Index is trading 0.1% higher, ar 16,325. g.
Dow Jones news
Most of the sectors belonging to the Dow Jones index are posting gains on Wednesday, with Utilities and Real State outperforming with 1.91% and 1.61% respective advances. On the negative side, only the Technology sector and
Communication Services are in the red, down 0.5% each and giving away Tuesday’s gains.
The pharmaceutical company Merck & Co (MRK) is leading gains on Wednesday with a 4.62% rally, trading at $131.34, followed by Intel (INTC) with a 2.58% increase to $43.08. Among the few losers, Salesforce (CRM) is 1.81% lower on the day, trading at $300.03 and Visa (V) dropping 0.8% to $278.38.
The calendar is thin this week with only a Wednesday conference by Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Christopher Waller worth mentioning. The highlight of the week is Friday’s Personal Consumption Prices Index, which is expected to provide fresh cues into the bank’s monetary policy plans and Fed Chair Powell’s speech shortly afterward.
Dow Jones technical outlook
From a technical perspective, the broader bias for the Dow Jones Index remains bullish, with investors’ hopes that the Fed is lowering borrowing costs in June capping bears for now.
The previous resistance area, now turned into support, and the 4-hour 50 Simple Moving Average (SMA) converging at 39,250 are limiting downside attempts for now. Below here, the next downside targets lie at the 39,000 level and the trendline support at 38,775.
On the upside, resistances at the 39,900 previous high and the 40,000 psychological level are likely to offer significant pushback for bulls.
Dow Jones Index 4-Hour Chart
Economic Indicator
United States Personal Consumption Expenditures – Price Index (MoM)
The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis on a monthly basis, measures the changes in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers in the United States (US).. The MoM figure compares prices in the reference month to the previous month. Price changes may cause consumers to switch from buying one good to another and the PCE Deflator can account for such substitutions. This makes it the preferred measure of inflation for the Federal Reserve. Generally speaking, a high reading is bullish for the US Dollar (USD), while a low reading is bearish.