Federal Reserve Chairman Powell indicated a possible further rate cut, but cautioned that the central bank does not have a preset path. On Monday, the three major U.S. indices first fell and then stabilized. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slightly rose by 17 points to close at 42,330 points, hitting a new closing high; the S&P 500 index rose by 24 points or 0.4%, closing at 5,762 points, also reaching a new closing high; the Nasdaq closed at 18,189 points, up by 69 points or 0.4%.
When looking at the entire month, the Nasdaq outperformed, rising by 2.7% in September; the Dow rose by 1.9%, and the S&P 500 index increased by 2%, marking the first September rise since 2019.
For the third quarter, the Dow rose by over 8% this quarter; the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq increased by approximately 5.5% and 2.6% respectively. 3M (MMM.US) and IBM (IBM.US) emerged as the champions and runners-up among blue-chip stocks, rising by 33% and 27% respectively. The Nasdaq saw PayPal (PYPL.US) and Tesla (TSLA.US) as winners for the quarter, both gaining over 30%.
