US stocks inched their way back to the top, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining nearly 600 points after the Federal Reserve outlined its plans for reducing its balance sheet
• Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 658 points, or 2%, to 33,956
• Brent crude hit $113 per barrel after OPEC+ decided to hold production steady
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US stocks inched their way back to the top, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining nearly 600 points after the Federal Reserve outlined its plans for reducing its balance sheet.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 658 points, or 2%, to 33,956. The S&P 500 was up by 87 points, or 2%, at 4,393 and all 11 of the broad-market benchmarks sectors were rising. The Nasdaq Composite rose 224 points, or 1.7%, to 13,757.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before Congress for his semiannual monetary policy update. He said that rate hikes are likely to begin this month despite the “highly uncertain” impact of the war in Ukraine. He added that the Fed would make progress on, but not finalize a plan, to reduce its balance sheet.
Powel hinted that the central bank would support a 25 basis point increase rather than a larger 50 basis point increase in the interest rate, when the Fed convenes its two-day meeting on March 16.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its relentless attack on Kharkiv. The U.N. General Assembly voted on Wednesday to condemn Russia’s Ukraine invasion while calling for an immediate end to the war.
The US and its allies have agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their reserves, to dampen the effect of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on gas prices at home. Half of the total reserves will come from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Private companies in the U.S. added 475,000 jobs in February, ADP private payrolls report said.
Ford Motor Co.’s shares (NYSE: F) were up by 8.3% even as it reported U.S. auto sales of 129,273 vehicles, down 20.9% from a year ago. It also said it would split its electric-vehicle unit from its legacy automobile manufacturing.
The U.S. announced on Tuesday that it was banning Russian planes from American airspace, in a bid to further isolate Russia.
U.S. oil climbed to the highest level in more than a decade in Wednesday trade, with global benchmark Brent crude hitting $113 per barrel after OPEC and its oil-producing allies, which includes Russia, decided to hold production steady.
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