The stock market has faced challenges in September due to a combination of factors affecting stock values and investor confidence. Despite this, there was a modest improvement in trading today.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 104 points, marking a 0.4% rise, which helped offset a previous drop of 226 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes also saw small gains of 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively. Some prominent tech stocks experienced slight increases in value, with Apple gaining 1.7%, Microsoft and Alphabet rising just over 1%, and Amazon leading with a 2.2% increase.
While the number of new unemployment filings slightly decreased, with around 870,000 filings last week falling short of the projected 850,000, there are concerns about the impact of weaker economic data on market stability.
The ongoing issue affecting the market is the absence of a new stimulus package from Congress. Many sectors are struggling without additional government support, leading to decreased consumer confidence and further economic challenges. The lack of a new stimulus bill has led to large investment firms revising their projections for the fourth quarter downward.
Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, noted that without additional fiscal support until 2021, the economic outlook remains uncertain.
