The S&P 500 Index broke above 5,600 for the first time ever on Wednesday as the broader market index posted its seventh straight session of gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also set a fresh record high as semiconductor stocks resumed their recent market rally ahead of more key inflation data this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rallied over 400 points by session close.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.02% or +56.93 points to 5,633.91
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +1.09% or +429.39 points to 39,721.36
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.18% or +218.16 points to 18,647.45
In Focus:
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell continued his two-day congressional testimony on Wednesday, this time before the House Financial Services Committee. There, Powell said the Fed's upcoming monetary policy decisions will not be influenced by politics, but by economic data.
"Any decision that we make on rates, on any of our policy tools, it's going to be very well-grounded in the data, and it will represent our best thinking about what is best for the American public in the near and medium term," Powell said. "That's the promise that I will give and that all my colleagues will give."
Bank of America economist Michael Gapen wrote in a Wednesday note that central bankers may soon begin lowering interest rates in response to recent signs of a softening labor market.
"Powell was clear in saying 'this is no longer an overheating economy,'" Gapen wrote, referring to remarks Powell made before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. "In prior months, Powell had often referred to positive supply forces as lifting growth in economic activity and fueling employment without generating overheating effects. But he normally balanced these remarks by pointing to upside risk to inflation from a tight labor market that was only gradually coming into better balance. Now the view is that these overheating risks are largely behind us."
In the News:
Walmart (NYSE: WMT) announced Wednesday it will open five automated distribution centers for fresh and frozen food across the United States in effort to sustain the growth of its online grocery delivery business. The retailer has already built and tested the first of five planned facilities in Shafter, California, and has recently opened a second in Lancaster, Texas in the Dallas metropolitan area. Walmart also plans to build distribution centers in Wellford, South Carolina, Belvidere, Illinois, and Pilesgrove, New Jersey.
HubSpot (NASDAQ: HUBS) shares dropped late Wednesday after a Bloomberg report said Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has dropped its plans to acquire the CRM software company. Hubspot has seen revenue growth above 20% for the past six quarters and sales increase by 23% to $617. 4 million in its recent first quarter; the company was expected to help Google expand its business software and cloud infrastructure revenues.
For Thursday:
Market participants will turn their attention to key inflation data for June with the release of the month's consumer price index reading due out Thursday morning.