Banks gain on rate hike hope – New York Report
Wall Street rose broadly yesterday but ended far off their session highs ahead of today’s expected interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 156.41 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 17,524.91, the S&P 500 gained 21.47 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 2,043.41 and the Nasdaq Composite added 43.13 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 4,995.36.
Bank stocks, which will likely benefit from higher rates, were among the market leaders with a 2.4 per cent advance on the S&P financial sector index. Goldman Sachs’ 3.2 per cent rise provided the biggest boost to the Dow industrials. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America were each up more than 2.7 per cent.
The S&P energy sector rallied 2.9 per cent on the heels of a more than two per cent advance in crude. Exxon powered the S&P 500 with a 4.4 per cent rise, while Chevron rose 3.8 per cent after crude prices recovered from their steep fall on Monday.