Investing.com – Wall Street edged forward on Thursday as market participants continued to mull Federal Reserve’s (Fed) outlook on the timing of policy tightening and digested data for implications of the path of the U.S. economy.
At 15:38GMT, or 11:38AM ET, the Dow 30 edged forward 13 points, or 0.07%, the S&P 500 rose 3 points, or 0.16%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded up 12 points, or 0.24%.
New York Fed president William Dudley steered away from speaking about interest rates on Thursday and creating the same havoc as two days before when he said a hike was possible in September.
Dudley did however give an upbeat outlook on the U.S. labor market after the last two strong jobs reports.
“Indeed, these reports reinforce my view that labor market conditions continue to improve," he said in prepared remarks to a press conference.
However, in a note to clients released Thursday, Morgan Stanley suggested that Fed policymakers were more concerned about inflation which would be the key factor for possible policy tightening.
Still ahead, San Francisco Fed president John Williams will deliver a speech on the economic outlook in Anchorage, Alaska, at 20:00GMT, or 16:00ET, with Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan participating in a moderated Q&A session after the close at 20:00ET, or 24:00GMT.
Fed fund futures all but ruled out a hike in interest rates this year with odds for September at only 9% and at a mere 43.1% for December, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
The dollar fell to fresh seven-week lows against the other major currencies on Thursday, despite the release of upbeat U.S. data, as the minutes of the Fed’s most recent policy meeting continued to weigh.
Weekly jobless claims fell more than expected in a continual sign of labor market firming.
The Philadelphia Fed survey also showed that manufacturing activity rebounded as expected in August.
On the company front, second quarter earnings season was unofficially coming to a close as Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) reported and lifted its profit-forecast. Shares of the world’s largest retailer rose almost 2%, leading the Dow higher.
Also on the blue-chip index, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) was off more than 1% after its own guidance missed estimates and it announced plans to lay off 5,500 works, or 7% of its workforce.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) were on the docket to report after the market close.
Meanwhile, oil prices were higher for the sixth straight session on Thursday, with West Texas and Brent climbing to six week highs above $48 and $50, respectively.
The rally was attributed to hopes that OPEC could reach a production freeze agreement at an informal gathering on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum next month, but market players remained skeptical that the meeting would result in any concrete actions after Saudi Arabia signaled that it could boost its output to a new record level in August.
U.S. crude futures jumped 2.99% to $48.19 by 15:40GMT, or 11:40AM ET, while Brent oil gained 1.97% to $50.83. Both barrels had hit session lows of $45.86 and $48.55, respectively.