US stocks extend rally into second day with Fed official seeing the US at the 'cusp' of easing inflation
- The S&P 500 was on course for a second straight win on Wednesday.
- Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told CNBC on Wednesday that he sees inflation on the "cusp" of a decline.
US stocks advanced on Wednesday, finding some support as a Federal Reserve official said he sees inflationary pressures easing soon, ahead of the next reading on consumer prices.
The S&P 500 was on course to rise for a second straight day and the Dow industrials were building on its jump of 372 points in the previous session.
With the Fed set to embark next month on a series of rate hikes to tame hot inflation, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told CNBC on Wednesday that he sees costs coming down soon.
"I am very hopeful we are going to start to see that decline," he said. "There is some evidence we are on the cusp of that," Bostic said, adding that he expects three rate hikes this year. A fourth is possible but the central bank would want to monitor the economy's response to the rate hikes, he said.
Here's where US indexes stood at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 4,568.29, up 1.03%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,718.11, up 0.72% (265.18 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 14,388.47, up 1.37%
Around markets, the cryptocurrency issued by the Bitfinex exchange following a major 2016 hack soared after US authorities recovered $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin and arrested two people.
Meanwhile, billionaire bitcoin backer Mike Novogratz said the recovery of the funds from the Bitfinex hack is a positive for the crypto world because it shows some of the merits of blockchain technology.
Oil prices fell. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 0.3% to $89.13 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped 0.2% at $90.62.
Gold shed 40 cents to trade at $1,827.50 per ounce. The 10-year yield gave up 3 basis points to 1.932%.
Bitcoin picked up 0.2% to $43,925.79.