Wall Street ends down but off day's lows; Fed holds rates steady
U.S. stocks ended lower but off their lows of the day on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady as expected and Fed Chair Jerome Powell offered soothing comments on the economy.
Technology shares were the biggest drags on the S&P 500, with Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab among stocks leading the way down.
Nvidia led a tech selloff on Monday after Chinese startup DeepSeek launched AI models it said were cost-effective and ran on less advanced chips compared to OpenAI.
The decision to hold the policy rate steady was widely anticipated following three consecutive rate cuts in 2024 that reduced the Fed's benchmark rate by a full percentage point. The Fed gave little insight into when further reductions in borrowing costs may take place.
Powell also said it is too soon to say what President Donald Trump's policies will do and the central bank will take its time assessing what the new government policy regime means.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 29.03 points, or 0.48%, to end at 6,038.67 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 106.08 points, or 0.54%, to 19,627.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140.04 points, or 0.31%, to 44,710.31.
Source: Reuters
