U.S. Stocks Recover After Fall From Higher Levels

(RTTNews) - After swinging between gains and losses early on in the session, U.S. stocks surged higher a little past noon, but fell into the red with investors reacting to the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at a private event.

However, stocks recovered some lost ground subsequently and the major averages are all up in positive territory.

The Dow is up 51.76 points or 0.15 percent at 33,942.78. The S&P 500 is gaining 21.77 points or 0.53 percent at 4,132.85, while the Nasdaq is gaining 99.60 points or 0.84 percent at 11,987.05.

In a Q&A session at the Economic Club of Washington, Powell told Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein that he expects 2023 to be a year of "significant declines in inflation."

Powell said inflation is beginning to ease, though he expects it to be a long process and cautioned that interest rates could rise more than markets expect if the economic data doesn't cooperate.

"The disinflationary process, the process of getting inflation down, has begun and it's begun in the goods sector, which is about a quarter of our economy," Powell said during an event in Washington, D.C. "But it has a long way to go. These are the very early stages."

Powell spoke in a question-and-answer session at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. with Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein.

Microsoft shares are gaining more than 3 percent. Boeing is surging nearly 2.5 percent. Chevron and Apple are up 1.6 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

JP Morgan, Merck, Travelers Companies, Walt Disney, Goldman Sachs, Intel and American Express are also up in positive territory.

Verizon is down more than 2 percent. Home Depot, Caterpillar, P&G, Nike, McDonalds, IBM and Cisco Systems are also weak.

In economic news, data showed U.S. trade deficit widened to $67.4 billion in December 2022, from a downwardly revised $61 billion in November.

Exports increased 17.7% in the month, while imports jumped 16.3%.