Stock market today: S&P 500 hits fresh record close on stronger economic growth
Investing.com - The U.S. economy expanded by more than initially reported in the second quarter, adding to the uncertainty ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy-meeting next month.
U.S. gross domestic product, an indicator of growth in the world’s biggest economy, expanded by 3.3% during the April to June period, according to the second estimate from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday.
The initial estimate had suggested that the U.S. economy grew by 3.0% in the first quarter, after contracting by 0.5% in the first quarter.
HSBC economists had expected second-quarter GDP growth to be revised to an annualized 3.2% from the initial 3.0% estimate.
In a recent note, they said that consumer sentiment will “remain subdued” in August, while July durable goods orders are likely to show a contraction.
The Federal Reserve will digest this growth data, although it is backward looking, along with Friday’s PCE price index - the U.S. central bank’s preferred inflation measure - and next week’s monthly payrolls report ahead of September’s policy meeting.
Expectations of a Fed interest rate cut next month rose after Fed Governor John Williams said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that "every meeting is, from my perspective, live."
"Risks are more in balance," he said. "We are going to just have to see how the data play out."