© Reuters.
By Liz Moyer
Investing.com — U.S. stocks are rising as investors put banking fears in the rearview mirror and look to close out the month and quarter on a positive note.
At 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT), the was up 60 points or 0.2%, while the was up 0.4% and the was up 0.5%.
With just one day left in the quarter, the S&P and Nasdaq are headed for quarterly gains, while the Dow could end up slightly in the red. Turmoil in the banking sector weighed on stocks for much of March, but those fears have calmed.
The , or VIX, is around 19 after spiking above 30 mid-month as Wall Street’s so-called fear gauge reacted to the bank tumult.
Futures traders are divided on what the Federal Reserve’s on interest rates will be. About half are betting on a quarter of a point interest rate hike, while the other half are predicting a pause at the next meeting in May.
The Fed’s decision-making could be influenced by the banking turmoil, which is expected to lead to a contraction in credit. But it is also looking at data on the labor market and . were 198,000 last week, slightly higher than expectations and higher than a week earlier. But the report is still a sign of a tight labor market.
for the fourth quarter grew 2.6% from the prior quarter, according to the last reading released today. That’s a slight tick down from the 2.7% previously reported.
Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:) rose 2% after the chipmaker announced a timeline for the release of new data center products. Evgo Inc (NASDAQ:) shares jumped 21% after the operator of fast-charge stations for electric vehicles beat expectations for revenue.
Oil was mixed. rose 0.3% to $73.20 a barrel while crude was flat at $77.59 a barrel. were flat at $1,982.