news/AMZN/2023.01.10/Wall St ends higher, Powell comments avoid rate policy.txt

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)*Investors await CPI data Thursday*U.S. earnings season begins this week*Jefferies shares rise after results*Indexes: Dow up 0.6%, S&P 500 up 0.7%, Nasdaq up 1%NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended solidly
higher on Tuesday, led by a 1% gain in the Nasdaq, on relief
that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refrained in a speech
from commenting on rate policy.In his first public appearance of the year, Powell said
at a forum sponsored by the Swedish central bank that the Fed's
independence is essential for it to battle inflation.Recent comments by other Fed officials have supported the
view that the central bank needs to remain aggressive in raising
interest rates to control inflation. Fed Governor Michelle
Bowman said on Tuesday the bank will have to raise interest
rates further to combat high inflation."Everybody hangs on every word from the Fed," said Tim
Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New
York. Powell "didn't really say anything" about policy, he
added.Investors anxiously awaited the U.S. consumer prices index
report Thursday, which is expected to show some moderation in
year-on-year prices in December.Traders are betting on a 25-basis point rate hike at the
Fed's upcoming policy meeting in February."There are some indications that inflation is slowing
significantly. What investors are really looking for is a gap
down in major inflation data that could probably get the Fed's
attention," Ghriskey said.Amazon.com Inc. shares rose 2.9% and gave the
Nasdaq and S&P 500 their biggest boosts.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 186.45
points, or 0.56%, to 33,704.1; the S&P 500 gained 27.16
points, or 0.70%, at 3,919.25; and the Nasdaq Composite
added 106.98 points, or 1.01%, at 10,742.63.Shares of Microsoft Corp rose 0.8%, a day after
Semafor, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that
the tech company was in talks to invest $10 billion in
ChatGPT-owner OpenAI.Communications services was the day's
best-performing sector, while energy rose along with oil
prices.This week marks the start of the fourth-quarter earnings
season for S&P 500 companies, with results from several of Wall
Street's biggest banks due later this week.Shares of investment bank Jefferies Financial Group
rose 3.8% on Tuesday, a day after it posted its second-best year
for investment banking revenue. It also reported a 52.5% slump
in fourth-quarter profit.Analysts expect overall S&P 500 earnings to have declined
2.2% in the fourth quarter from a year ago, according to IBES
data from Refinitiv, as worries about rising rates and the
economy mounted.Some investors are hoping for signs that the Fed may soon
take a break after raising the federal funds rate seven times in
2022.The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its 2023 growth forecasts
on Tuesday to levels teetering on the brink of recession for
many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes
intensifies.Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.02 billion shares,
compared with the 10.91 billion average for the full session
over the last 20 trading days.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a
2.33-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.45-to-1 ratio favored advancers.The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and no new
lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 71 new highs and 30 new
lows.
(Additional reporting by Ankika Biswas, Amruta Khandekar and
Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli,
Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Chang)