BSX - US Stocks Grind Higher As China Cuts Taxes On Trading Eyes Further Stimulus: What's Driving Markets Monday? | Benzinga
Wall Street kicked off the week positively, boosted by an improvement in global risk sentiment following China’s announcement of a 50% reduction in the stamp duty on domestic stocks and guidelines for relaxing residential housing loans over the weekend.
By midday trading in New York, all major U.S. stock indices were in positive territory, with sectors tied to growth such as real estate, materials and industrials showing better performance compared to the rest of the market.
Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges experienced a rally, with Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE:TME) surging by 7.3%, Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) rising by 3.3% and Alibaba Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BABA) gaining 2.5%.
During last week’s Jackson Hole Symposium, Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated the Federal Reserve is ready to raise interest rates further if necessary. Yet he also emphasized the importance of proceeding cautiously to bring inflation back to the target of 2%. Traders interpreted this as a signal for a potential rate pause in September and a close call between a rate hike and a hold in November.
Cues From Monday’s Trading:
The Dow added 150 points or 0.44%, slightly outperforming both the S&P 500 Index, up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq 100, up 0.2%.
Small caps are the bright spot, with the Russell 2000 index up 0.9%.
...