Global Markets: New Record for S&P 500 Index on Wall Street

On Wall Street, stock indices slightly rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 reaching a new record level, although trading was uncertain as investors awaited news that could steer the market. The Dow Jones increased by 0.02 percent to 44,556 points, while the S&P 500 rose by 0.24 percent to 6,129 points, and the Nasdaq index by 0.07 percent to 20,041 points.

Throughout the day, trading was uncertain, and indices balanced on the edge of positive and negative territory as investors were reluctant to take risks due to geopolitical uncertainties regarding peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, the crisis in Gaza…

On Wednesday, the release of the minutes from the last meeting of the leaders of the U.S. central bank is expected, during which they kept interest rates unchanged due to elevated inflation. Several Fed officials have reiterated in recent days that interest rates could remain at current levels for some time due to stable economic growth and rising inflation. Additionally, the Fed does not want to rush into lowering rates as inflation is expected to rise if U.S. President Donald Trump continues to increase tariffs, which seems very likely.

The market is supported, however, by strong corporate earnings. So far, more than 380 companies from the S&P 500 index have reported their earnings for the last fiscal quarter, with 74 percent achieving higher profits than expected. Analysts now estimate that corporate profits in the last quarter rose by more than 15 percent year-on-year, while at the beginning of the year, they expected growth of around 10 percent.

– After the extended weekend due to the holiday on Monday, there are not many news items that could impact the market. Therefore, investors have decided to take a breather ahead of the Fed’s minutes release on Wednesday and the quarterly results of retail chains at the end of the week – says Ryan Detrick, a strategist at Carson Group.

On most European exchanges, stock prices also rose yesterday. However, the London FTSE index weakened by 0.01 percent to 8,766 points, while the Frankfurt DAX strengthened by 0.20 percent to 22,844 points, and the Paris CAC by 0.21 percent to 8,206 points.