- Energy and industrials lead gains in early trade.
- Utilities continue to underperform.
Major equity indexes in the U.S. opened the day modestly higher on Wednesday as the decisive recovery seen in crude oil prices helped the energy sector stage a strong rebound. As of writing, the S&P 500 Energy Index was up 1.17% on the day. Additionally, the S&P 500 Industrials Index extended its rally following comments from officials suggesting that the U.S. and China were again engaged in trade talks and was last seen up 0.85%.
On the other hand, the S&P 500 Utilities Index falls 0.4% on the day as the wildfires in California and their potential negative impact continue to weigh on the sector.
Meanwhile, today’s data from the U.S. showed that the annual core-CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, ticked down to 2.1% in October and fell short of the market expectation of 2.2%. Additionally, hopes of the UK Cabinet accepting the Brexit deal helps the market sentiment improve on Wednesday. “It wouldn’t take much good news, whether it is stabilization in energy prices, benign CPI and good news on Brexit, any combination of those will propel us higher,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in New York, told Reuters.
As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 54.01 points, or 0.2%, at 25,334.90, the S&P 500 was adding 5.92 points, or 0.22%, at 2,728.10 and the Nasdaq Composite was virtually unchanged at 6,830 points.