Stocks are experiencing their 16th green session out of the 20 so far in November, with the S&P 500 index reaching its highest level since early August, and the Nasdaq 100 just 4.4% below its all-time highs set in November 2021.
The second estimate of the U.S. GDP for the third quarter revealed an expansion of 5.2% in Q3, surpassing earlier projections of 4.9%, marking the most rapid growth rate in almost two years.
Even the hawkish comments from Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin failed to shake the stock market, and investors are now pricing in the start of rate cuts in May 2024 with an 80% probability, anticipating five cumulative cuts by December 2024 with a 58% probability.
Barkin mentioned that he is not ruling out the possibility of another rate hike, and believes that inflation will prove to be more stubborn than the Fed would prefer.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury remained below the 4.3% mark on Wednesday, staying at a level not seen in over two months.
On a different note, the Wall Street Journal reported that OPEC+ is contemplating new oil production cuts of up to 1 million barrels per day. This move, likely to drive oil prices higher, may be announced on Thursday during a virtual meeting of the cartel.
WTI crude oil traded 1.5% higher to $77.7 a barrel as of 1:00 p.m. in New York.
Performance Of US Stock Indices Wednesday
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq 100 | +0.22% | 16,041.52 |
| S&P 500 Index | +0.24% | 4,565.34 |
| Dow Industrials | +0.31% | 35,530.44 |
| Russell 2000 | +1.09% | 1,812.38 |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (ARCA: SPY) rose 0.26% to $456.17.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA) edged 0.5% higher to $355.72.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) rose 0.25% to $391.18.
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) soared 1.07% to $179.95, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Chart Of The Day: The US Economy Just Had Its Best Quarter In 2 Years
Sector, Industry ETF Performance
Real estate and financials were the sector outperformers on Wednesday, with the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF), up 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively.
Consumer staples as tracked by the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) were the laggard, down 0.8%.
Regional banks were the spotlight among equity…
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