US shares up as investors await Fed 8217 s minutes

US shares went up today (July 9th) following quarterly reports from corporations, as Wall Street awaits minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting.

Alcoa gained in early New York trading after the aluminium producer released better-than-expected results.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) added 0.15 per cent to 1,966.67 at 09:58 ET in New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) gained or 0.07 per cent, to 16,918.09.

John Manley, chief equity strategist for Wells Fargo Funds Management in New York, told Bloomberg: "I still think the Fed is going to be more concerned about making absolutely sure that the US economic recovery is underway and staying underway."

The Fed will release at 14:00 ET minutes from its two-day meeting in June, at which the central bank reduced monthly bond purchases to $35 billion (€25.6 billion).

Fed chair Janet Yellen said at the news conference that followed the meeting that interest rates would likely remain low for a considerable period.

However, investors have speculated the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than expected.

The US unemployment rate has fallen to 6.1 per cent from 7.5 per cent a year ago, which suggests that slack in the labour market is diminishing and the risk of overheating is gradually rising, according to the Wall Street Journal, which adds that a broad rise in inflation would be an added signal that the time to move on rates is nearing.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has revised its forecast for the Federal Reserve to raise rates to the third quarter of 2015, rather than the first three months of 2016, saying the economy is "accelerating to an above-trend pace"

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