Jerome Powell provided comments pushed back against the market's expectations
Wall Street is mostly higher this afternoon, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) sitting at a nearly two-year peak after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell contradicted investors' expectations that interest rate cuts are ahead. In a prepared statement, Powell said that it is "premature to conclude with confidence" that the central bank's inflation combating policy is "sufficiently restrictive."
For the week, the blue-chip index and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are pacing for their fifth-straight win. The Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC), meanwhile, is set to snap its four-week winning streak, even as Treasury yields fall.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- The best gold stock to own this month.
- Behind Pfizer stock's fall to three-year lows.
- Plus, beauty stock's bull gap; behind PIXY's pop; and healthcare firm's re-domiciliation.
Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) is 10.3% higher at $469.86 at last glance, staging a massive bull gap on the charts after after better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the third quarter. Options traders are excited by the report, with 29,000 calls and 18,000 puts exchanged so far today -- 12 times the average intraday volume. New positions are being bought to open at the top seven most popular contracts, led by the weekly 12/1 480-strike call. Now trading back above its long-term 320-day moving average and eyeing its best daily performance in 18-months, ULTA sports a fractional year-to-date lead.
ShiftPixy Inc (NASDAQ:PIXY) is near the top of the Nasdaq, up 32% to trade at $10.99, building on a wild rally this week that's seen the equity add 54% over the last five days. The company recently filed a non-timely 10-k with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), estimating a smaller operating loss than that of the same period 12 months ago.
At the bottom of the Nasdaq sits Icannex Healthcare ADR (NASDAQ:IXHL). The stock was last seen down 37.4% at $5.00, after yesterday completing its re-domiciliation from Australia to the U.S. Year over year, IXHL is now down just over 70%.