US benchmark equity indexes experienced an uptick on Wednesday as traders assessed a new set of economic data and corporate earnings alongside the commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Powell remarked that the robust US economy allows the Federal Open Market Committee to take a 'more cautious' approach regarding interest rate decreases, highlighting that economic growth has outpaced expectations since September.
He also pointed out that the FOMC cannot make decisions based solely on anticipated tariff impacts until additional information becomes available. The services sector in the US maintained its expansion in November, with data from the Institute for Supply Management revealing a sequential slowdown in growth.
However, S&P Global indicated a faster pace of growth. Oxford Economics shared their insights, asserting that the results from the ISM survey do not alter their positive outlook for persistent consumer spending growth, especially in the services sector, which is expected to sustain economic momentum. In commodities, January West Texas Intermediate crude oil witnessed a decline of $1.40, ultimately settling at $68.54 per barrel, while February Brent crude, the global benchmark for crude oil, recorded a drop of $1.09 to $72.53.
This dip occurred despite anticipations that OPEC+ will likely defer its plan to reinstate 2.2 million barrels of production to the market when the group convenes on Thursday. Additionally, a recent report indicated that US inventories fell more than anticipated last week. In the corporate sphere, Salesforce saw its shares surge by 11% as the customer relationship management platform reported fiscal Q3 revenues that exceeded analysts' estimations, buoyed by strength in subscription and support sales. Conversely, General Motors foresees a $5 billion profit setback due to challenging market circumstances in China, necessitating a restructuring of its operations there.
Consequently, shares of the automaker dipped by 0.6%..