Wall Street Week Ahead: Sleepy summer may give way to freaky fall

The dog days of summer have lived up to their sleepy reputation this year as far as U.S. stocks are concerned, but market gyrations could soon pick up as a traditionally more volatile time of year looms.

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Sleepy summer may give way to freaky fall

Wall Street still sees Fed on pace for one rate hike, in December: Reuters poll

Wall Street's biggest banks are sticking to bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates once this year, and the increase would most likely occur in December after a tepid employment report for August quashed most talk of a move as early as this month. Economists for 13 out of 14 primary dealers who responded to a Reuters poll on Friday said they expect the Fed to lift the targeted range for its benchmark short-term interest rate by a quarter-percentage point to a median level of 0.63 percent by year end. The current mid-point for the federal funds rate is 0.38 percent.

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Wall Street still sees Fed on pace for one rate hike, in December: Reuters poll

Wall Street pushed higher by healthcare, energy stocks

The collapse of the $160 billion merger of Pfizer and Allergan bolstered the healthcare sector on rising hopes that the pharmaceutical giants could turn to smaller targets. A seven-week rally – sparked by rising oil, strength in the economy and a cautious Fed – helped stocks recover from a steep selloff that had sent the S&P 500 down more than 10 percent earlier this year.

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Wall Street pushed higher by healthcare, energy stocks

Wall Street pushed higher by healthcare, energy stocks

The collapse of the $160 billion merger of Pfizer and Allergan bolstered the healthcare sector on rising hopes that the pharmaceutical giants could turn to smaller targets. A seven-week rally – sparked by rising oil, strength in the economy and a cautious Fed – helped stocks recover from a steep selloff that had sent the S&P 500 down more than 10 percent earlier this year.

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Wall Street pushed higher by healthcare, energy stocks

Yellen faces tough sell on Fed rate hikes in Congress

By Jonathan Spicer and Ann Saphir WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will defend the U.S. central bank's first rate hike in a decade and likely insist that further rises this year remain on track, albeit at a slower pace, when she addresses Congress on Wednesday. Yellen, who is certain to be grilled by lawmakers on whether the economy really is ready for higher rates, will point to continued strong jobs growth even as financial markets have all but priced out any rate hikes this year and as signs of stress in the global financial system have re-emerged amid volatile markets. The Fed Chair also is likely to find herself in heated exchanges with lawmakers over the bank's perceived secrecy, with presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle now taking regular shots at the Fed on the campaign trail.

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Yellen faces tough sell on Fed rate hikes in Congress

Wall Street rally stamps exclamation point on volatile week

A 4.3-percent jump in the S&P energy sector laid the foundation for the S&P 500's strongest session so far this year. After dropping earlier this week to 2014 lows, the S&P 500 has recovered in the past two sessions to end the week 1.4-percent higher. The Dow Jones industrial average rallied 1.33 percent to finish the session at 16,093.51 points while the S&P 500 surged 2.03 percent to 1,906.9.

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Wall Street rally stamps exclamation point on volatile week