Wall Street Gains Despite Fed Caution, Trade Worries
US stocks ended higher on Wednesday as investors weighed the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady and monitored developments in US-China trade tensions.
The S&P 500 added 0.4%, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%, while the Dow Jones gained 297 points. As expected, the Fed kept its benchmark rate at 4.25%-4.5%, with Chair Jerome Powell signaling a cautious stance, saying risks to both inflation and unemployment have increased.
Powell emphasized that uncertainty remains high and the Fed is in no rush to cut rates without clearer economic data. Meanwhile, hopes for a breakthrough in upcoming US-China trade talks remained low, with President Trump stating he would not ease tariffs ahead of negotiations set for this weekend in Switzerland.
Disney jumped 10.9% after reporting a surprise increase in streaming subscribers. Alphabet sank 7.5% after Apple (-1.4%) said it is looking for AI-powered search engines in its Safari browser, risking the partnership with Google.
Source: Trading Economics
