NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks rose early Monday after a gloomy end to the week on a mixed employment report, as traders geared up for closely watched inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.8 percent to 35,331.36, while the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.6 percent to 4,504.30.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index also rose, by 0.3 percent to 13,955.78.
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The movements came as the US economy added fewer jobs than expected in July, according to last Friday’s official employment data.
This lifts “an already high bar for the Federal Reserve to raise lending rates when it issues its next policy decision” on September 20, said analyst Joseph Manimbo of Convera.
While some Fed officials such as governor Michelle Bowman have said they expect additional interest rate increases will be needed to lower inflation to the central bank’s two percent target, she and other policymakers have maintained their decision will remain data dependent.
New York Fed president John Williams, meanwhile, said in an interview with The New York Times that the Fed could bring rates down next year.
“It should probably come as little surprise at this juncture to hear some competing views out of the Fed,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
“Nonetheless, the market is anxious to hear the Fed publicly coalesce around the idea that it is done, and that has yet to happen,” he added in a note.
A key data point that will factor into the Fed’s decision is the consumer inflation report due Thursday morning.
Analysts expect a moderate annual rate of 3.3 percent – rising slightly from June’s figure.
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