U.S. stocks are rising as Dow tries for 10th straight day of gains

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were rising as the Dow was poised to mark its 10th straight day of gains fueled by tech and megacap stocks.

At 10:48 ET (14:48 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66 points or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.2%.

Economic outlook brightens

The tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 34.4% so far this year as optimism about artificial intelligence and expectations for an end to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases fueled investor bets on the sector.

Morgan Stanley cited the strong industrial sector and federal infrastructure spending as it raised its economic growth forecast for the year, saying it expects a soft landing for the economy.

Fed rate moves in focus

Futures traders expect the Fed to raise rates another quarter of a percentage point when it meets next week, and analysts will be listening to what Chair Jerome Powell says during the press conference on Wednesday for extra clues about the Fed’s future moves.

The Fed wants to get inflation back to the 2% annual target, something that has been persistently challenging amid a resilient economy with a tight labor market. Next week also features a report on second-quarter gross domestic product and the latest reading on inflation in the form of the personal consumption expenditure index.

The University of Michigan’s latest reading on consumer sentiment is also due out next Friday.

Traders are undecided on where the Fed will go after next week’s meeting, with some seeing a pause in September and another rate increase in November. 

American Express outlook stays the same

Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) fell 3.9% after it beat expectations on record spending by card members, but it kept its full-year forecast unchanged.

AutoNation Inc (NYSE:AN) stock fell 7% after the auto retailer posted a sharp drop in used-vehicle sales as well as a rise in expenses, overshadowing better-than-expected quarterly sales.