Stocks rise as data lifts Fed rate cut odds for next week

NEW YORK >> U.S. stocks advanced to close higher today, as a flurry of economic data kept expectations elevated for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week, while a fall in Microsoft’s shares curbed the advance.

The record-long 43-day U.S. government shutdown kept investors in the dark about official data and hampered the ability to gauge the Fed’s likely path on interest rates. But the backlog is now being cleared along with data from non-governmental sources.

The Institute for Supply Management said U.S. services activity was little changed in November at 52.6 versus 52.4 in October, while the prices paid component dipped but remained elevated. The reading comes ahead of the delayed personal consumption expenditures report, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, on Friday.