Wall Street Rises as Fed Holds Rates Steady
US stocks indices closed higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.3%, the Nasdaq gaining 0.2% and the Dow inching above the flatline, as investors digested the latest FOMC decision and comments from Fed Chair Warsh. As expected, the Fed left interest rates unchanged, although two policymakers dissented in favor of a 25bps rate hike. Warsh struck a confident tone on inflation expectations, suggesting they remain well anchored. Heavyweight financial stocks mostly advanced, with JPMorgan up 1%, Morgan Stanley gaining 1.7%, Goldman Sachs rising 1.5%, and Wells Fargo adding 1.2%. Corporate earnings remained in focus, with Microsoft (-0.1%) and Alphabet (+1.3%) set to report after the closing bell. Alphabet also benefited from reports that OpenAI plans to buy AI computing chips from Google. Record quarterly profits at SK Hynix lifted chip stocks, including Micron (+5.9%) and AMD (+3.2%). In contrast, Apple fell 0.9% despite unveiling a revamped MacBook Pro featuring a touchscreen.
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US stocks indices closed higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.3%, the Nasdaq gaining 0.2% and the Dow inching above the flatline, as investors digested the latest FOMC decision and comments from Fed Chair Warsh. As expected, the Fed left interest rates unchanged, although two policymakers dissented in favor of a 25bps rate hike. Warsh struck a confident tone on inflation expectations, suggesting they remain well anchored. Heavyweight financial stocks mostly advanced, with JPMorgan up 1%, Morgan Stanley gaining 1.7%, Goldman Sachs rising 1.5%, and Wells Fargo adding 1.2%.
Corporate earnings remained in focus, with Microsoft (-0.1%) and Alphabet (+1.3%) set to report after the closing bell. Alphabet also benefited from reports that OpenAI plans to buy AI computing chips from Google. Record quarterly profits at SK Hynix lifted chip stocks, including Micron (+5.9%) and AMD (+3.2%). In contrast, Apple fell 0.9% despite unveiling a revamped MacBook Pro featuring a touchscreen.