By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed mixed on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve did not change its benchmark interest rate as expected and indicated that while its next move is likely to be a cut, progress continued inflation is not guaranteed.
O and o ended the session lower, while o recorded a modest gain.
The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee concluded its two-day monetary policy meeting with a unanimous decision to keep the interest rate between 5.25% and 5.50%.
The statement following the decision left doubt about the timing of the rate cut, and Fed officials said the first few months of 2024 had done little to build the confidence they seek in falling inflation.
At the press conference following the announcement, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that while the central bank remains focused on bringing inflation back to its 2% objective, progress has been made toward that goal. He also rejected the notion of an imminent rate hike.
“Powell hasn’t rocked the boat too much,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at the Carson Group in Omaha. “He acknowledged that inflation is still a problem, but remained optimistic that it will improve in the coming quarters.”
Powell also said the job market is normalizing, citing data released Wednesday that shows job openings have fallen to a three-year low.
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The first quarter reporting season is more than halfway over, with 310 of the companies in the S&P 500 index having already reported their results. Of these, 77% recorded profits that exceeded consensus, according to LSEG.
The Dow Jones index rose 0.23%, to 37,903.29 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.34%, to 5,018.39 points. The Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.33% to 15,605.48 points.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru)
Tags: Nasdaq fall Fed decision interest rates Powells speech Reuters
