US stocks advanced on Thursday after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller indicated he could support keeping interest rates unchanged this month if incoming economic data confirms that inflationary pressures are continuing to ease.
Investor sentiment also received support from a decline in US yields after government figures showed that the country’s trade deficit widened in July.
However, the outlook for interest rates remains complicated by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. A prolonged escalation could add to inflationary pressures, particularly through higher energy prices. Brent crude futures gained 0.49% on Thursday, extending their winning streak to four consecutive sessions.
As of 10:01 a.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 was up 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7%.
At 09:34 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 394.74 points, or 0.74%, to 53,456.69, the S&P 500 gained 41.29 points, or 0.54%, to 7,707.89 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 160.20 points, or 0.61%, to 26,378.03.
US trade gap widens in July
Government data showed that the US trade deficit expanded in July to its highest level since March 2025. Imports increased during the month, with demand partly supported by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure and technology-related investment.
Waller’s comments have therefore drawn attention because any indication that inflation is moving sustainably lower could give the Fed greater flexibility in deciding whether further rate adjustments are necessary.
“My decision on the appropriate stance of policy will be heavily influenced by what we learn about August inflation,” Waller said in remarks at a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event in Washington.
“If there is continued progress toward our 2% goal, then I am willing to support holding the policy rate at its current level,” Waller said.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 4.75% from 4.79% on Wednesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury slid to 4.32% from 4.39%.
Key Stock Movers
Among individual stocks, Nvidia gained 1.7% after the chipmaker announced plans to acquire artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion.
Broadcom shares declined 5.26% after the semiconductor and technology company issued a fourth-quarter revenue forecast that fell below Wall Street’s elevated expectations.
Snowflake emerged as one of the biggest gainers, with its shares jumping 25.17% after the cloud data company issued a strong annual revenue forecast.
Bullion
surged on Thursday, as traders trimmed rate hike expectations after Waller’s remarks.
By 10:36 a.m. ET (1436 GMT), spot gold rose 2% to $4,472.94 per ounce. US gold futures for December delivery rose 2.3% to $4,517.40 per ounce. Among other metals, spot silver gained 1.7% to $66.41, platinum rose 2% to $1,795.67, and palladium climbed 2.6% to $1,380.66.