Wall Street expands gains on Fed rate cut bets

US stock indices rose during Monday’s session as bets on a Federal Reserve interest rate cut continued to build.

The gains come ahead of key US inflation data due this week, which the Fed is expected to monitor closely for signals before initiating rate cuts.

Data released Friday by the US Department of Labor showed that the economy added only 22,000 jobs in August, compared with expectations of 75,000. The report was seen as highly negative.

The figures also revealed that the US unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in August, in line with analysts’ expectations.

Following the data, market bets on a Fed rate cut in its upcoming meeting increased, with probabilities rising to around 98%, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

As of 17:11 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1% (24 points) to 45,424. The broader S&P 500 rose 0.3% (17 points) to 6,499, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7% (148 points) to 21,848.