NEW YORK - Stocks could rally back up to their highs of the year this week if the Federal Reserve shows Wall Street that its decision to keep interest rates on hold last month wasn't just a one-off.
Stocks have been on a steady climb since mid-August, following the Fed's first pause after 17 straight interest-rate increases. The tightening cycle had stretched out over a two-year span from June 2004. The Fed will announce its latest monetary-policy decision on Wednesday,
"We'll probably hear more of the same, that they want to give the 17 increases more time to filter through the economy and they don't want to stop the growth," said Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust. "That would generally be considered a positive, so we can stop worrying about what the Fed is thinking and focus more on corporate earnings."
Last week the Dow Jones closed just 109.42 points from its May 10 high of 11,670.19.
- REUTERS
Focus on earnings as US stocks rally
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