Stocks rose on Wednesday, snapping a three-day slide in the Dow and S&P 500 as investors awaited more clarity on the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 59.64 points, or 0.18%, to 32,969.23. The S&P 500 rose 0.29% to 4,140.77 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.41% to 12,431.53.
Energy, real estate and financials were among the best performing sectors in the S&P 500. Meanwhile, information technology, healthcare and consumer goods lagged behind.
Cruise lines were among the best performing stocks in the broader market index. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings rose 8.4%, Royal Caribbean Group advanced 7.6% and Carnival rose 5.3%.
On the contrary, Advanced auto parts have the worst performance The S&P 500 fell 9.6% after missing earnings expectations and cutting its full-year guidance.
Investors await the three-day Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, which begins Thursday with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Fed watchers expect him to strengthen the central bank’s goal of keeping inflation low and expectations of future price gains in check.
Key economic reports for the rest of the week include jobless claims on Thursday and the personal consumption expenditures price index on Friday. The central bank is closely watching the PCE report, one of its favorite measures of inflation.
“We’re really in a situation where markets are between and in between,” said Lisa Erickson of US Bank Wealth Management.
“It’s really waiting for some more important news over the weekend with the Jackson Hole talk and PCE, so what we’re really seeing is investors, I think, floating up and down moderately with a downward bias,” Erickson added.
