US close: Stocks extend rally ahead of CPI reading

Wall Street stocks ended the session in the green on Wednesday as major indices managed to build on what has generally been a strong start to 2023.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.80% at 33,973.01, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.28% to 3,969.61 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.76% firmer at 10,931.67.

The Dow closed 268.91 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session after comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

News from Finnish think tank the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air that revealed Russian revenues from fossil fuel exports tumbled in December drew an amount of investor attention on Wednesday, with the first month of the European Union's ban on seaborne imports of crude from the nation and the G-7's price cap costing Moscow roughly $171.8m per day and significantly hampering Vladimir Putin's ability to fund his war in neighbouring Ukraine.

However, Oleg Ustenko, economic advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated that while it was "very good news" that Western measures had hurt Russia, they were "definitely not enough" and called for a price cap against the Kremlin of $20 to $30 a barrel - markedly lower than the current $60-per-barrel price cap.

Investors also looked ahead to Thursday's key consumer price index, with economists expecting to see SPI dipping to 0.1% in December and 6.5% overall year-on-year.

On the macro front, mortgage applications rose 1.2% to start off 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, following a 10.3% nosedive to wrap up 2022. Applications to refinance a home loan soared 5.1%, while those to purchase edged 0.5% lower.

No major corporate earnings were released on Wednesday but shares in Disney rose in extended trading after the media behemoth revealed that Nike executive chairman Mark Parker will join its board as chairman.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com