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 resultsNEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher on
Tuesday 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.Communications services was among the day's
best-performing sectors, while energy rose along with
oil prices.Unoffically, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
rose 187.9 points, or 0.56%, to 33,705.55, the S&P 500
gained 27.32 points, or 0.70%, to 3,919.41 and the Nasdaq
Composite added 106.98 points, or 1.01%, to 10,742.63.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 on Tuesday, a day after itpostedits 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 as worries
about rising rates and the economy mount, according to IBES data
from Refinitiv.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.
(Additional reporting by Ankika Biswas, Amruta Khandekar and
Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli,
Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Chang)