The bond market swung, while U.S. stocks held relatively steady after the Federal Reserve decided not to raise its main interest rate to bring down high inflation.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 per cent. In the bond market, the two-year Treasury yield initially jumped after the Fed held its main interest rate steady. It then reversed course after traders pared expectations for coming hikes to rates.
Higher rates can help get high inflation under control, but they can also hurt the economy.
The action was much stronger in the bond market, where the yield on the two-year Treasury initially climbed after the Fed announced its decision to hold rates steady. It got above 4.79 per cent from 4.70 per cent late Tuesday after the Fed said two officials actually wanted to raise the federal funds rate at their meeting, only to get outvoted by their peers.
The central bank last month raised its main interest rate for the first time in three years in hopes of bringing down inflation, which has remained above the Fed’s two per cent target for years and has been discouraging Americans broadly.
But the two-year Treasury yield, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, quickly reversed course. It dropped as low as 4.69 per cent after Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said the central bank wants to see how conditions play out before making its next move on rates.
He pointed to how rates for loans going to businesses and others across the economy have already climbed recently and how lenders and investors have become “more discerning.” He said the overwhelming judgment among Fed officials at their meeting was that “monetary medicine” is “starting to work some.”
Along with signals that the U.S. economy continues to grow, Warsh said that “broadly, these developments go in the direction” of helping the Fed achieve its two goals of a healthy economy and relatively low inflation.
Traders on Wall Street still see further increases to rates by the Fed as likely, but they pared back bets for how many may come by next summer, according to data from CME Group.
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The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which moves on expectations for inflation and economic growth in upcoming years, had its own yo-yo moves following the Fed’s meeting but was largely steadier. It rose to 5.04 per cent from 4.99 per cent late Tuesday.
Higher rates push downward on stock prices, which has raised the pressure on companies to deliver growth in profits to counteract that. Several companies rallied Wednesday after joining the list of those beating analysts’ expectations for the summer.
GE HealthCare Technologies jumped 6.4 per cent after delivering both profit and revenue for the summer that surpassed analysts’ expectations. It also raised its forecasts for revenue growth and other financial measures for the full year.
Etsy climbed six per cent after its profit for the latest quarter blew past analysts’ forecasts. CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said the online marketplace saw growth in active buyers from prior-year levels for the first time in two years, while its active seller base grew at its fastest rate in two years.
Stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry were also relatively solid. They’ve stabilized this week following big swings on worries that high borrowing costs will undercut the boom in AI data centers largely built with borrowed money.
AI stocks got an additional boost after a major player in the industry, South Korea’s SK Hynix, soared 10.9 per cent in Seoul following its latest profit report. The seller of memory chips said it’s in the midst of a virtuous cycle of rising AI usage, and it expects demand to continue to outpace supply through 2030.
On Wall Street, Micron Technology rose 5.4 per cent and was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500. It also sells memory for computers.
Outside of tech, Wendy’s jumped 14.6 per cent to $7.04 after Trian Fund Management, run by investor Nelson Peltz, offered to buy the chain for $7.35 per share in cash.
That helped offset a drop for Boston Scientific, which fell 4.1 per cent even though the seller of medical devices reported a milder drop in profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations.
Robinhood Markets sank 3.9 per cent after reporting weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 6.6 per cent following SK Hynix’s leap. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.1 per cent, while France’s CAC 40 edged down by less than 0.1 per cent.
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