US benchmark equity indexes experienced gains during the intraday session, as markets analyzed the latest economic reports, including a surprising indication that the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure remained constant last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an increase of 1.5%, reaching 42,982 around midday Friday.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both rose 1.4%, hitting 5,948.4 and 19,637.2, respectively. All sectors contributed positively, with real estate leading the way. Recent economic indicators revealed that US consumer spending growth accelerated in November, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The Fed's favored core measure, excluding food and energy, remained unchanged at 2.8% annually last month and slightly decreased to 0.1% from 0.3% on a sequential basis. Market expectations were for 2.9% and 0.2% growth, respectively. "A more cautious Fed will likely refrain from lowering interest rates again in January, but we anticipate action in March as inflation progresses towards the target," highlighted BMO. US consumer sentiment reached its highest point since April in December, while expectations for inflation over the next year recorded their first month-over-month increase in seven months, according to final results from the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers. "Overall, consumers feel that the economy has improved significantly with the slowdown in inflation; however, they do not perceive themselves as thriving," commented Joanne Hsu, Director of Surveys of Consumers. In bond news, the US 10-year yield decreased by 5.8 basis points to 4.51% during the intraday session, while the two-year rate declined by 1.5 basis points to 4.30%. In corporate updates, Humana has named Japan Mehta as their new chief information officer, effective in Q1, succeeding Sam Deshpande.
The health insurer's shares increased by 6.3%, making it one of the top gainers on the S&P 500. In a significant move, Netflix secured exclusive streaming rights in the US for the next two editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup, leading to a 1.4% rise in the streaming giant’s shares. Conversely, shares of Novo Nordisk dropped by 17% after clinical trial results for its investigational weight loss drug did not meet its expectations. On the commodity front, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices edged up by 0.6%, reaching $69.81 a barrel intraday.
Additionally, gold prices increased by 1.6% to $2,648.80 per troy ounce, while silver saw a 2.44% rise to $30.13 per ounce..