Stocks prices continued to increase after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the central bank has the tools to contain any inflationary pressure that is expected to be short-term as the economy recovers.
The S&P 500 set a new record despite a decline in trading volumes that fell below 10 billion shares on US exchanges, which is a new minimum this year. The Nasdaq 100 topped the major indices as giants such as Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. were the fastest in growth. Treasury yield decreased and the dollar fell. The Treasuries hit a new minimum this month, dropping to 1.62%.
A day after the Fed minutes highlighted a unanimous commitment to the soft monetary policy, Powell said that the central bank will respond if inflation expectations begin to “grow steadily and substantially above levels set by the monetary regulator.” He also noted that vaccine problems around the world pose a risk to progress in an economic recovery that remains “uneven and incomplete.”
Meanwhile, St. Louis Federal Bank President James Bullard said that it was too early for central banks to discuss the cuts of asset purchases during the pandemic. On Thursday, the US labor market data showed that jobless claims rose unexpectedly, underscoring the volatile nature of the labor market recovery.
Main market quotes:
- S&P 500 (F) 4,090.38 +1.38 (+0.03%)
- Dow Jones 33,503.57 +57.31 (+0.17%)
- DAX 15,202.68 +26.32 (+0.17%)
- FTSE 100 6,942.22 +56.90 (+0.83%)
- USD Index 92.308 +0.239 (+0.26%)
Important events:
- US PPI (m/m) (Mar) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
- Canada Employment Change (Mar) at 15:30 (GMT+3).
