US: Stocks rise ahead of key inflation report

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks won solid gains for a second straight session Wednesday on improving investor sentiment and better US Covid-19 trends ahead of a key inflation reading.

New York joined a wave of Democrat-run US states to roll back mask mandates, a symbolic step towards restoring normal life following a sharp drop in virus infections since mid-January.

The better indicators on the US Covid-19 picture have helped the market shrug off what JPMorgan Chase analysts called "overly bearish sentiment" that weighed on stocks for most of last month.

Still, many investors are edgy ahead of Thursday's consumer price reading for January after the prior month's report showed the highest inflation in decades.

The Dow Jones industrial Average finished up 0.9 per cent at 35,768.06.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.5 per cent to 4,587.18, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.1 per cent to 14,490.37.

"Many investors remain optimistic about the economy going forward and that even if we have a hot inflation report, appetite for US stocks will still be strong despite the Fed raising rates possibly five times this year," said Oanda's Edward Moya.

Large technology companies had a strong day, including Facebook parent Meta, up 5.4 per cent and Netflix, up 2.3 per cent. Both companies had been punished after disappointing earnings releases.

Among individual companies, Chipotle Mexican Grill shot up 10.2 per cent after it reported better-than-expected profits on a 22 per cent jump in quarterly revenues to US$2 billion.

But CVS Health fell 5.5 per cent despite results that beat expectations, as the company confirmed its full-year forecast but did not raise estimates. AFP