- US stocks finished sharply higher, posting their 6th straight day of gains.
- Trump says he wants zero interest rates.
- Mortgage rates hit a 3-year low.
- Oil dips to 2.5% after on a report that Trump weighed easing Iran sanctions.
US stocks closed up on Wednesday. Sentiment was helped by China waiving import tariffs on more than a dozen US goods starting September 17.
The Dow marked its sixth day of gains in a row, its first such winning streak since early June. The index also climbed above 27,000 points for the first time in six weeks.
Its the first such winning streak since early June.
The index also climbed above 27,000 points again. It hasn't touched that level in six weeks.
All investment teams at AB will have to enroll in the program, in which they will tackle challenges like how rising sea levels, wildfire hazards and other extreme weather affect companies' risks and opportunities.
"There is a strong case to be made that Apple has the greatest products in the world," Munster said.
With consumers wanting better battery life, better cameras and lower prices, the California-based tech giant delivered, Munster said.
Even though the future of 5G was missing from Apple's presentation, the company isn't behind the curve on the new technology, which is only sparsely available in the United States at this point.
"If Apple came out with a 5G phone today, it would create an assumption of availability among consumers that is simply not there," Munster said.
A quarter percentage interest rate cut might not do much to boost the economy right away, but it will help to instill confidence in the US economy, said Stifel's chief economist Lindsey Piezga during CNN's digital live show Markets Now.
"I think it will calm down the market," Piezga said on the show.
But it remains important to watch the central bank's tone regarding future moves. "Are they going to emphasize the positives in the economy... or do they point out the rising risks?"
Investors are gearing up for interest rate cuts in the coming weeks, with the European Central Bank's monetary policy update due tomorrow and the Federal Reserve meeting next week.
"Our Fed will be a little more interesting to watch," out of the two, Matt Cheslock, equity trader at Virtu Financial, told CNN's Alison Kosik during the digital live show Markets Now.
President Donald Trump is keeping the pressure on the central bank, tweeting earlier today that interest rates should be cut to "zero, or lower."
"Everything that comes out from the president has moved the markets. Certainly, that's not a good sign when the president is calling the barometer of our economy boneheads," Cheslock said, referencing the earlier tweet.
Trump won't be happy unless we get at least half a percentage point cut, and the market might not be either, Cheslock said.
If Iran sanctions were eased or lifted, oil supply in the global market would increase, thereby pushing down the price.
The representation of women on corporate boards is linked to companies' credit ratings, says ratings agency Moody's.
Companies with lesser ratings also had fewer women on their boards. Nevertheless, the pattern suggested a correlation in the data, but not causation, Moody's said.
"Higher-rated companies also tend to have more women occupying C-suite executive positions. Nearly 25% of executives at Aaa-rated companies are women, versus around 10% for Ca-rated companies.
Regulations that mandate a minimum gender split on boards could, meanwhile, make things worse for companies, as it would require many to turn over directors, which could lead to credit risk in the short-term.
That said, Moody's also assesses companies' governance, and one of the five equally weighted risk categories it considers for the score is board oversight and effectiveness. "A board with less than 30% gender diversity is one indicator among many that strays from Moody's global standards," the agency said.
US stocks opened higher on Wednesday, as the Dow is aiming for its sixth day of gains in a row.