S&P 500 Gains, Crude Falls Ahead Of Fed's Expected First Hike Since 2023: Stock Market Today
A sharp reversal in crude oil handed U.S. equities a reprieve on Wednesday, with stocks grinding higher off six-week lows just hours before the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2023. The S&P 500 added 0.4% to 7,615.70, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was effectively flat at 52,113. The Nasdaq 100 outperformed, rising 0.9% to 29,198 as hardware and semiconductor names extended Tuesday’s rebound from AI-safety jitters. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC that the outage on Saudi Arabia’s damaged East-West crude pipeline would be a “brief and temporary interruption” measured in days, and Riyadh moved to route additional barrels through Oman. West Texas Intermediate crude slid 3.6% to $102.02 a barrel, slipping back below $103 after a 20.6% surge so far this month. Brent fell 3.3% to $105.17. The cheaper barrel rippled straight into the Treasury market. The 10-year yield eased 5 basis points to 4.96%, taking a breather after five straight sessions of gains that carried it to 5.04% on Tuesday, the highest since July 2007. The reprieve does not change the Fed’s arithmetic. Markets price in roughly a 93% chance that the central b
S. equities a reprieve on Wednesday, with stocks grinding higher off six-week lows just hours before the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2023. 70, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was effectively flat at 52,113. 9% to 29,198 as hardware and semiconductor names extended Tuesday’s rebound from AI-safety jitters.
S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC that the outage on Saudi Arabia’s damaged East-West crude pipeline would be a “brief and temporary interruption” measured in days, and Riyadh moved to route additional barrels through Oman. 6% surge so far this month. 17.
The cheaper barrel rippled straight into the Treasury market. 04% on Tuesday, the highest since July 2007. The reprieve does not change the Fed’s arithmetic. 00% this afternoon, its first hike in nearly three years, with another move expected by December.
4% consensus. 4%. 1%. 8%.
5%. 1% as the crude reversal gutted producers. 3%. 5%.
6%. 7%. Forgent Power Solutions Inc. 6% after fourth-quarter revenue rose 94% year-over-year to $462 million and adjusted EBITDA jumped 163% to $113 million.
6 billion. The rest of the leaderboard was an AI-connectivity pile-on with little hard news behind it. Semtech Corp. 0%, extending Northland’s upgrade to Outperform with a $182 price target, which flagged connectivity as the AI bottleneck.
The optics complex moved together and, again, without a company-specific trigger. Lumentum Holdings Inc. 0% and Coherent Corp. 4%.
The correlated bounce looks like short covering after a brutal month for the group. Astera Labs Inc. 0%, alongside Dell Technologies Inc. 2% and Intel Corp.
0%. B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. 5% after a rare intra-quarter warning delivered at a Morgan Stanley conference.
The carrier guided third-quarter earnings to fall 5% to 10% from the second quarter, citing a $10 million fuel headwind and $25 million of added driver-related costs. Chief Financial Officer Brad Delco said the company has seen “some of the most radical and abnormal swings” in fuel prices it has ever experienced. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. 9% in sympathy.
Permian operators took the brunt of the crude unwind, and all four of the next-worst names share the same catalyst. Diamondback Energy Inc. 0% on more than 14 times normal volume; its mineral-rights affiliate Viper Energy Inc. 2%, Matador Resources Co.
5%, and Permian Resources Corp. 1%. 6 million-barrel draw. The damage ran deep through the patch.
EOG Resources Inc. 5%, Occidental Petroleum Corp. 8% and Devon Energy Corp. 7%.
Elsewhere, First Solar Inc. 4% and crypto-linked names sold off, with Circle Internet Group Inc. 8%. Wednesday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers Name % change Forgent Power Solutions, Inc.
03% Lumentum Holdings Inc. 02% Coherent Corp. B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.
52% Diamondback Energy, Inc. 03% Viper Energy, Inc. 09% Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.