The share price of the big US carrier was up 0.1 percent.
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Wall Street rose at the start of trading on Wednesday as traders took heart from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s pledge that the central bank will not end its easy money policies yet.
In testimony released ahead of his appearance before the House Financial Services Committee, Powell said the US economy has “a long way to go” to return to full employment following the Covid-19 pandemic, and predicted inflation will remain “elevated” inflation in the coming months before declining.
His semiannual testimony to Congress contained no hints that the Fed is backing down from the easy money policies that have allowed Wall Street to prosper despite the wider malaise caused by the pandemic.
“Basically nothing has changed. his rhetoric on inflation remains the same, that it’s temporary,” Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities said. “The market is taking its cue from Fed’s Powell written comments.”
Still the Fed chief likely will face tough questions from lawmakers on inflation.
About 15 minutes into trading, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 percent to 35,025.92.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent to 4,390.88, a new record, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to 14,761.03.
The recent surge in inflation as the United States bounces back from the Covid-19 pandemic downturn had fueled speculation the Fed would curtail its bond buying or raise interest rates sooner than expected.
Before markets opened, the Labor Department reported a record 7.3 percent increase in the producer price index for the 12 months ended in June.
That followed its consumer price index report Tuesday showing the highest annual rate since August 2008.
Meanwhile, major US companies this week are reporting results, including Delta, which said it had made its first quarterly profit since the pandemic began.