The benchmark index is headed for a gain in March after struggling in earlier weeks on worries about whether the banking system was cracking under the weight of higher interest rates.
It’s been on a turnaround after struggling in earlier weeks on worries about whether the banking system was cracking under the weight of higher interest rates.
Forceful actions by regulators worldwide have helped build confidence that the current trouble for banks won’t torpedo the economy like the 2008 financial crisis did.
The Fed has pulled its key overnight rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%, up from virtually zero at the start of last year, to drive down inflation.
The bet on Wall Street has been that the Fed may cut rates as soon as this summer, to release some of the pressure built up on the economy and banks.
Gains for Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Nvidia and Tesla on Thursday were the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 higher.
The Fed has indicated it plans to raise rates one more time before holding steady through the end of this year.
“In sharp recessions – which seems to us the only way to justify bond market pricing, given how high US inflation is – corporate earnings easily drop 30-35%,” Rajadhyaksha and his Barclays colleagues wrote in a report.
Financial stocks in the S&P 500 went from gains in the morning to losses in the afternoon, and ther fade helped the overall index to pare its gains.