Shares in positive territory

US STOCKS hung in positive territory yesterday afternoon, as investors pondered the possibility of a Fed rate cut after a series of weak economic reports and attempted to capitalise on market activity

At around 1.20pm ET, the Dow Jones industrial average, up 56.46 to 8453.49, Nasdaq composite, up 13.76 to 1343.51 and Standard & Poor’s 500 index, up 8.02 to 893.78, held steadily higher on the back of October’s first monthly gains since March. “Despite all of the news and negative comments, there’s a lot of cash on the sidelines and a lot of people thinking the market is bottoming, if it hasn’t already,” said David Briggs, head of equity trading at Federated Investors. “Every time the market pulls back, you see these quick rallies.” Briggs added that over the past 12 sessions, investors jumped into the markets after sharp drops, fearing that they might miss out on gains.

Market breadth was positive. On the NYSE, advancers beat decliners 5-to-3 as 806 million shares traded. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners 3-to-2 as 1.07bn shares changed hands.