Dow was led by gains for Home Depot, Chevron and Exxon Mobil
U.S. stock benchmarks closed slightly higher on Wednesday, 06 September 2017 after congressional leaders and President Donald Trump agreed to extend the debt limit deadline and fund the government through mid-December. The gains on Wall Street came as investors grappled with lingering concerns over North Korea, a potentially catastrophic Hurricane Irma, doubts about President Donald Trump's business-friendly agenda, news that a key Federal Reserve official is resigning, and persistent worries about elevated stock valuations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 54.33 points, or 0.3%, to end at 21,807.64. The S&P 500 index climbed 7.69 points, or 0.3%, to end at 2,465.54, powered by a rebound in energy sector. Nasdaq Composite Index tacked on 17.74 points, or 0.3%, to end at 6,393.31.
In total, nine of the eleven sectors finished in the green with the consumer discretionary space settling behind the energy group at the top of the leaderboard. As for the laggards, the lightly-weighted utilities and telecom services groups finished with losses.
Dow was led by gains for Home Depot, Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
On the data front, the Institute for Supply Management said its nonmanufacturing index rose to 55.3% in August from 53.9% in July, indicating steady growth for U.S. companies. The data failed to bolster the dollar, which was hobbled by a pair of dovish Federal Reserve speeches from Tuesday.
In other economic news, the trade deficit rose slightly in July, keeping the U.S. on track to post a larger gap in 2017 than in 2016. The deficit edged up to $43.7 billion in July from $43.5 billion in June.
The Federal Reserve's so-called Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes about the economy gathered before the central bank makes interest-rate decisions, said reports were mixed about auto production, as sales have slowed. In addition, the Fed's Beige Book for September showed that economic activity expanded at a modest to moderate pace across all 12 Federal Reserve Districts in July and August. A special note was added for Hurricane Harvey, saying the storm created broad disruptions to economic activity in the Dallas and Atlanta districts, but it's still too soon to gauge the full extent of the impact.
Bullion prices ended lower at Comex on Wednesday, 06 September 2017. Gold snapped a three-day win streak to finish lower on Wednesday after the White House and lawmakers reached a deal to extend the deadline on the federal government's debt ceiling and as stocks recouped some of their losses from the previous session.
Gold for December delivery slid $5.50, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,339 an ounce. The precious metal had rallied to start the holiday-shortened week as nervousness over North Korea's weekend nuclear display combined with weakness in the dollar and broad losses in U.S. equities boosted precious metal futures. Silver for December delivery dropped 3 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $17.91 an ounce.
The U.S. oil benchmark closed at a four-week high on Wednesday, 06 September 2017 at Nymex reflecting concerns about a potential hit to production from Hurricane Irma as well as renewed demand for crude as Gulf Coast refineries previously shut down by Hurricane Harvey reopened.
West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude oil for October rose 50 cents, or 1%, to close at $49.16 a barrel, the highest settlement since Aug.9. Brent crude gained 82 cents, or 1.5%, to end at $54.20 a barrel, its highest close since April 18.
The upswing in crude prices marked a swift reversal from last week, when prices had languished in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The storm knocked out more than 20% of U.S. refining capacity, cutting demand for crude and weighing on prices.
On Thursday, investors will receive the revised readings for second quarter Productivity (consensus 1.2%) and Unit Labor Costs ( consensus 0.3%) at 8:30 ET, the weekly Initial Claims Report (consensus 239K) also at 8:30 ET, and July Consumer Credit (consensus $15.0 billion) at 15:00 ET.
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