Wall St rises after Fed policymakers back rate cuts
Survey: US business activity steady in September
Intel gains on report of Apollo's investment offer
GM slips after Bernstein downgrades stock
Indexes up: Dow 0.13%, S&P 500 0.23%, Nasdaq 0.17%
Updates to mid-afternoon, adds analyst comment
By Echo Wang
Sept 23 (Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes rose in mid-afternoon on Monday as investors assessed whether a trend will develop in the week following the Federal Reserve’s rate cut.
The gains come amid comments from Fed policymakers and steady factory activity data, building on last week's sharp market rally after the central bank's decision to lower interest rates.
The Fed's pivotal move last week lifted major indexes to monthly gains, defying the historical trend of September as a weak month for equities.
Comments from a number of policymakers were the main focus on Monday as investors searched for clues on why the central bank kicked off its easing cycle with an outsized 50 basis-point cut.
Fed officials including Raphael Bostic, Neel Kashkari and Austan Goolsbee supported the central bank's last rate cut and voiced support for more cuts in the rest of the year.
Trader bets, as per the CME Group's FedWatch tool, initially favored a larger Fed move at its upcoming November meeting, after Governor Christopher Waller on Friday flagged that upcoming inflation data could undershoot the Fed's 2% target.
However, the bets have swayed since then and now appear to be a coin-toss, with markets expecting a total reduction of 74 basis points by year-end, according to LSEG data.
On the data front, U.S. business activity remained steady in September, while average prices for goods and services increased at the fastest pace in six months, potentially signalling a rise in inflation in the months ahead.
“I think investors are still just sort of taking a wait-and-see attitude, if indeed a soft landing is the most likely outcome.” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of CFRA Research in New York.
At 2:52 p.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 54.15 points, or 0.13%, to 42,117.51, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 13.21 points, or 0.23%, to 5,715.76 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 30.50 points, or 0.17%, to 17,978.54.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were higher. Consumer discretionary stocks .SPLRCD led gains with a 1.15% rise, while healthcare stocks .SPXHC declined 0.19%.
Having rallied for much of the year, the S&P 500 .SPX is a whisker away from an all-time high and the blue-chip Dow .DJI hit another intraday record high.
Among rate-sensitive growth stocks, Tesla TSLA.O jumped 4.59%, while Meta Platforms META.O rose 0.65% after Citigroup lifted its price target on the stock.
The Russell 2000 index .RUT, tracking small caps, was off 0.23%.
All eyes are on Friday's personal consumption expenditure figure for August - the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Analysts indicate this release will be the week's most significant catalyst.
Among top movers, Intel INTC.O rose 3.41% after a report showed Apollo APO.N offered to make an investment of as much as $5 billion in the chipmaker.
General Motors GM.N slipped 2.31% after Bernstein downgraded the carmaker's stock to "market perform" from "outperform."
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.49-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 427 new highs and 33 new lows on the NYSE.
The S&P 500 posted 59 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 74 new highs and 114 new lows.
Reporting by Echo Wang in New York
Additional reporting by Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis
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