The Dow Jones Industrial Average pushed higher on Tuesday as investors continue taking a “wait-and-see” approach to the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement tomorrow. The Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC) has largely held the markets hostage over the last 12 months with continued speculation over the timing of the next rate hike.
The meeting comes at a tough time for the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank downgraded the U.S. third-quarter GDP estimate to 2.9%.
Let’s look at the final numbers on Tuesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Dow Jones: 18,129.89; +9.72;Â +0.05Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
S&P 500: 2,139.75; +0.63;Â +0.03Â Â Â Â Â
Nasdaq: 5,241.35; +6.33, +0.12
Here’s a look at today’s most important market events and stocks, plus a preview of Wednesday’s economic calendar.
DJIA Today: Healthcare Stocks Rally on M&A News, Oil Prices
The Dow Jones gained 49 points, fueled by a rally in healthcare stocks and optimism that the Fed will hold off on its next interest rate hike until later this year. In addition to a big acquisition of a liver disease treatment by Allergan Plc. (NYSE: AGN), healthcare stocks received a big boost from Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD), which has a number of similar drugs in its pipeline.
It was a busy day for housing stocks. This morning, investors weighed the August report on housing starts and building permits. In August, housing starts slumped more than economists expected thanks to flooding in the Southern part of the nation. The weak report is more bad news for the Federal Reserve as the central bank prepares to discuss monetary policy. Meanwhile, shares of Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) fell 4.7% even though the firm topped Wall Street earnings expectations.
