US stocks open in green as PCE inflation falls below expectations; tech stocks surge

The US stock market opened in the green despite a bounce back in crude oil prices, but remained below the psychological benchmark of $100 per barrel. Dow Jones surged over 100 points at the open, while the NASDAQ 100 rose 0.39% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the US 10Y yield extended its surge and continued to trade at two-decade high levels.

Investor sentiment turned positive after the rate hike expectation cooled off. The CME Fed watch tool shows a 34% probability of an interest rate range of 4%-4.25% on Wednesday, dropping from 52% on Tuesday. The sentiment was further bolstered as the Core PCE inflation stood at 3.4%, below 3.7% expectations. On the other hand, the US economy grew by 2.2%, above expectations of 1.5%, highlighting the strength in economic activity.

At the stock-specific level, the megacap companies showed positive signs amid an improved economy. Shares of Nvidia (+2%), Apple Inc. (+1.5%), Alphabet (+2.2%), Microsoft (+1.1%), and Amazon (+0.3%).

Among the chipmaker pack, Intel Corporation (+1.6%), NVIDIA (+1.4%), and Qualcomm (+1.09%) were among the top gainers. The cooling-off rate hike expectations turned the overall sentiment positive for the AI-related stocks.

Despite the positive gains on Wednesday, the US markets showed largely mixed performance in September, with only the NASDAQ 100 surging 1.2%, while the Dow Jones fell over 3.8% for the same month.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury yields were the top performer, surging nearly 500 bps to 5.2%, adding fears of heightened borrowing costs for the economy.

Meanwhile, the Asian markets closed in the green across the board as crude oil prices slipped below $100 per barrel. The Japanese Nikkei surged the most above 1.2%.