Stock market today: Wall Street rises toward records as jubilation sweeps markets worldwide
The S&P 500 was 1.5% higher in midday trading and above its all-time closing high set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 386 points, or 0.9%, and on track to top its record set on Monday. The Nasdaq composite was 2.4% higher, as of
The rally was widespread, and the company behind Olive Garden and Ruth's Chris,
It was a momentous move, closing the door on a run where the Fed kept its main interest rate at a two-decade high in hopes of slowing the
Wall Street’s initial reaction to Wednesday’s cut was a yawn, after markets had already run up for months on expectations for coming reductions to rates, and stocks ended up edging lower after swinging a few times.
“Yet we come in today and have a reversal of the reversal,” said
Some analysts said it could have been relief that the Fed’s Powell was able to thread the needle in his press conference and suggest the deeper-than-usual cut was just a “recalibration” of policy and not an urgent move that it had to take to prevent a recession.
That bolstered hopes that the
The pressure nevertheless is still on the Fed because the job market and hiring has begun to slow under the weight of higher interest rates. Some critics say the central bank waited too long to cut rates and may have done damage to the economy.
Powell, though, said Fed officials are not in “a rush to get this done” and would make decisions on policy at each successive meeting depending on what the incoming data says.
Some investment banks raised their forecasts for how much the
Lower interest rates help financial markets in two big ways. They ease the brakes off the economy by making it easier for
An adage suggests investors should not “fight the Fed” and ride the rising tide when the central bank is cutting interest rates, and
One of the worries still remaining on
The upcoming
History may also offer few clues about how things may progress given how unusual the conditions are. This looks to have the most aggressive expectations for rate cuts out of any past easing cycles, according to strategists at
The economic conditions of this one could resemble 1995 a bit, but unfortunately “no great analogs exist,” the strategists led by
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year
In stock markets aboard, indexes jumped 1.8% in
The
___
AP Business Writers
Asian markets fluctuate on uncertainty over Fed rate plan
UK Services Inflation Rises But Underlying Story Is Improving
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News