S&P 500 closes little changed ahead of Fed decision, JPMorgan weighs on Dow
The S&P 500 closed relatively unchanged on Tuesday as Wall Street looked ahead to this week’s interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve.
The broad market index traded around the flatline, slipping just 0.09% to close at 6,840.51, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.13% to end the day at 23,576.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.03 points, or 0.38%, to finish at 47,560.29. The 30-stock index was dragged down by a decline in JPMorgan shares on higher-than-expected 2026 expense projections.
Traders are waiting for the Fed’s highly awaited interest rate decision on Wednesday, which will be the last of the year. Markets are betting that the central bank will lower its key overnight lending rate by another quarter percentage point as it did at its meetings in September and October. Fed funds futures suggest a roughly 87% chance of a decrease, up from under 67% about a month ago, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
The anticipation of a cut helped send the Russell 2000 small-cap index
to a fresh all-time intraday high during Tuesday’s session. Rate cuts could boost small companies more because their borrowing costs are more linked to market rates than larger ones, and the lower rates could help economic growth broaden out to more industries.
Source : Cnbc.com
