Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise; PCE Inflation Report; government shutdown; Novo Nordisk, Tesla, other switchers

The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, and nearly 350 stocks in the index were on track to close higher. This would end the negative breadth of the market benchmark at 14 days. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4%.

The latest update on inflation was encouraging, although stocks struggled to open higher amid concerns about talks to avert a government shutdown in the U.S. and whether the latest disruption could be a foretaste of the kind of political instability that awaits Wall Street has to cope with this time year ahead.

Stock prices fell sharply on Wednesday in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s latest forecasts for the future path of interest rates and inflation. Although Wall Street appeared to buy the decline on Thursday, many of the market’s gains evaporated. We’ll see if the latest round of dip buying continues as the market heads into two weeks of shortened holidays.