In the US overnight, the S&P 500 rallied 1.1 per cent after erasing a morning wipeout of 1.6 per cent, one where almost every stock within the index had been falling. A majority of the index’s stocks still finished lower for the day, but the performances by Nvidia and other tech stocks were enough to drive it to a third straight gain and back within 2 per cent of its all-time high set in July.

The Dow Jones rose by 124 points, or 0.3 per cent, after rallying back from a drop of 743 points. The Nasdaq composite jumped 2.2 per cent.

The sharp seesaw trading, where the Nasdaq composite roared back from an earlier 1.4 per cent slide, followed the government’s latest update on inflation at the consumer level. Overall inflation slowed to 2.5 per cent in August from 2.9 per cent in July, a touch better than expected. But prices rose more than expected from July into August when ignoring food and energy, and economists say that can be a better predictor of where inflation is heading.

Altogether, the data seemed to confirm that the Fed will indeed cut its main interest rate at its meeting next week, which would be the first such cut in more than four years. But it bolstered expectations that the Fed will begin with only a traditional-sized move of a quarter of a percentage point instead of the more severe half-point that some had been expecting.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Trump Media & Technology Group sank 10.5 per cent to worsen its rough run since March. The company behind former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform has often risen and fallen with expectations for Trump’s re-election chances, and he’s coming off a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.

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Since closing above $US66 in early March, the stock has tumbled to $US16.68. That affects Trump particularly because he is the company’s largest shareholder.

Besides the 8.1 per cent jump for Nvidia, gains of 2.8 per cent for Amazon, 2.1 per cent for Microsoft and 6.8 per cent for Broadcom were the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500. Because these companies are among Wall Street’s largest by market value, their movements pack more punch on the index than almost every other stock.

with AP, Bloomberg

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