WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved mostly higher early in the session on Friday and continue to turn in a strong performance in afternoon trading. With the upward move on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are poised to extend their winning streaks to five sessions.
Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Dow is up 348.40 points or 0.9 percent at 41,445.17, the Nasdaq is up 142.17 points or 0.8 percent at 17,711.85 and the S&P 500 is up 38.62 points or 0.7 percent at 5,634.38.
Optimism about the outlook for interest rates has contributed to the continued strength on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week.
The Fed is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision next Wednesday and is almost universally expected to lower interest rates by at least 25 basis points.
Recent inflation has partly offset optimism the Fed will lower rates more aggressively, but the central bank is still expected to continue cutting rates over the next several months.
Adding to the positive sentiment on Wall Street, the University of Michigan released a report showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. has improved by more than anticipated in the month of September.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index rose to 69.0 in September from 67.9 in August, while economists had expected the index to inch up to 68.0.
The report also showed a continued decrease by year-ahead inflation expectations, which fell for the fourth consecutive month.
Year-ahead inflation expectations edged down to 2.7 percent in September from 2.8 percent in August, hitting the lowest level since December 2020.
The Labor Department also released a report before the start of trading showing import prices in the U.S. decreased by slightly more than expected in the month of August.
Sector News
Interest rate-sensitive housing tocks have moved sharply higher on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 2.8 percent. The index is on pace to end the session at a record closing high.
Substantial strength also remains visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Gold stocks have also shown a strong move to the upside amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index jumping by 2.2 percent.
Computer hardware, brokerage and semiconductor stocks are also seeing significant strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index increased by 0.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved higher on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved back to the upside following the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.4 basis points at 3.646 percent.
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