Wall Street is quiet as it waits for the Federal Reserve's announcement in the afternoon
Business
The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged and remains near its all-time high, which was set in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 198 points, or 0.4%, as of 12:33 p.m.
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market remains largely quiet on Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve will say in the afternoon about where interest rates may be heading.
The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged and remains near its all-time high, which was set in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 198 points, or 0.4%, as of 12:33 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.
Among the market’s big movers was GE Vernova, which flew 13.9% higher after the energy company raised its forecast for revenue by 2028, doubled its dividend and increased its program to buy back its own stock. Palantir Technologies added 2.8% after saying the U.S. Navy will use its artificial-intelligence technology as part of a $448 million program.
On the losing end of Wall Street was GameStop, which fell 4.8% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The video-game retailers’ profit topped forecasts, though.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased a bit as the countdown ticks toward the Fed’s announcement at 2 p.m. Eastern time. The widespread expectation is that it will cut its main interest rate for a third time this year in hopes of bolstering the job market.
That expectation is so strong that U.S. stock prices have already run to the edge of their records because of it. The more important question for Wall Street will be what Fed officials will say about where they see interest rates potentially heading in 2026.
Wall Street has been bracing for Fed officials to imply fewer cuts to rates in 2026 than this year, and potentially fewer than the two that many traders are expecting now, even after they downgraded their forecasts.
While lower interest rates can boost the economy and send prices for investments higher, they can also worsen inflation.
With inflation remaining stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target, Fed officials are notably split about whether high inflation or the slowing job market is the bigger threat to the economy.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.16% from 4.18% late Tuesday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, dipped to 3.59% from 3.61%.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest movements across Europe and Asia.
