On Wednesday, US stocks increased marginally as additional large corporations released impressive earnings updates.
Following the end of an eight-day winning streak, the longest of the year, the S&P 500 increased by 0.4 per cent per day. The index has returned to being within 0.8 per cent of the peak it reached last month.
S&P 500 opened at 5,603.09 points, reaching a day-high level of 5,632.68 points, which is 36.99 points away from the 52-week high of 5,669.67 points that was recorded on July 16, 2024.
The S&P 500 was trading around 5620.85 points at the time of closing on Wall Street with 23.73 points in positive territory.
The Nasdaq composite increased by 0.6 per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite, which saw 102.05 points rally in the last trading day, opened on a positive note of 17,840.51 points.
The index saw a huge uptick during the day, touching a day-high level of 17,963.07 points, amounting to a runup of more than 0.8 per cent on the bourse.
The Nasdaq composite was trading around 17,918.99 points at the time of closing. Ending the day with a 0.57 per cent move in the green.
The marquee index Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at 40,881.03 points, gaining 93.37 points when it touched the day-high level of 40,974.40 on Wall Street; the Dow Jones also shuttered in green territory with a move of 0.14 per cent amounting to 55.52 points.
The index was trading around 40,890.49 points at the time it closed on Wall Street.
The Federal Reserve meeting minutes
The upcoming September is now the target date for the Federal Reserve to begin reducing interest rates.
The minutes of the July 30-31 meeting were made public on Wednesday, providing insight into roughly how many policymakers were in that group and how united the remaining policymakers were in viewing the Fed’s Sept. 17–18 meeting as the preferred starting point for reducing borrowing costs.
The Federal Open Market Committee, concluded that meeting with the benchmark overnight borrowing rate remaining in the 5.25 per cent to 5.50 per cent range that it has been in since July 2023.
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Rate reduction on table in september meeting
However, officials also approved several significant changes to the policy statement that could pave the way for a rate reduction at their meeting the following month.
“If we were to see inflation moving down… more or less in line with expectations, growth remains reasonably strong, and the labour market remains consistent with current conditions, then I think a rate cut could be on the table at the September meeting,” stated Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his post-meeting press conference, further solidifying that expectation.
