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Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Friday, welcoming retail sales data with the S&P 500 nearing a record high in a day, as the Federal Reserve kicked off its meeting, anticipating an interest rate announcement on Wednesday evening..
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 170 points, or 0.40 percent, to 41,793.78, and the S&P 500 rose 22.4 points, or 0.40 percent, to 5,655.51..
The Nasdaq Composite Index also rose 114.9 points, or 0.65 percent, to 17,707.019 points..
Microsoft shares rose more than 1% after the tech giant raised its quarterly dividend by 10.7% to 83 cents a share. The company also approved a $60 billion buyback program..
Intel shares jumped 2.3% after the company said it plans to spin off its foundry business. The Biden administration also gave the company up to $3 billion in funding through the Chips Act..
U.S. retail sales rose unexpectedly in August, suggesting the economy remained in solid shape through much of the third quarter..
The State Department’s statistics office said retail sales rose 0.1 percent last month after an upwardly revised 1.1 percent gain in July..
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales, which are mostly goods and not adjusted for inflation, falling 0.2 percent after a 1.0 percent rise in July. Estimates ranged from a 0.6 percent decline to a 0.6 percent increase..
