Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher on hopes for easier interest rates

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is rising Wednesday following the latest signals that pressure on inflation may be easing.

The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in early trading and near its highest level in 20 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 95 points, or 0.3%, at 36,220, as of 9:45 a.m. Eastern time, and approaching its record just below 36,780. The Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.

Homebuilder Toll Brothers was helping to lead the market with a gain of 3.9% after it reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It said demand from buyers has also remained solid so far in the current quarter, thanks in part to slightly easier rates available for mortgages.

Mortgage rates have regressed as Treasury yields have dropped on hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be finished with its barrage of hikes to interest rates, meant to get high inflation under control. Wall Street is betting the Fed’s next move will be to cut rates, possibly as early as March, which would juice the economy and financial markets.

More reports came Wednesday to suggest the Federal Reserve could at least hold steady on rates for now. Its next meeting on interest rates is in a week, and the widespread expectation is for it to leave its main interest rate alone at its highest level in more than two decades.

One report said private employers added fewer jobs last month than economists expected. While no one on Wall Street wants to see massive layoffs, a cooldown in the job market could remove upward pressure on inflation.

A more comprehensive report on the jobs market from the U.S. government will arrive Friday, one that can cause big swings on Wall Street.

“What we don’t know is how much the markets have already priced in a slowing labor market, or how they will...