Dow Hits All-Time High Ahead of Fed Meeting

Traders are betting on a half-point rate cut Wednesday
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 16, 2024 3:42 PM CDT
Dow Hits New All-Time High
American flag hang from the front of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024.   (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at another all-time high Monday after recouping its losses from early September. The S&P 500 rose close to its own record, but was held back by losses in Big Tech companies.

  • The Dow rose 228 points, or 0.6%, to 41,622.08.
  • The S&P 500 rose 7.07 points, or 0.1%, to 5,633.09.
  • The Nasdaq composite fell 91.85, or 0.5% to 17,592.13.
The mixed results came ahead of the most anticipated meeting of the Federal Reserve in years, the AP reports. More traders are betting that the Fed will cut its main interest rate Wednesday by a larger-than-usual amount in a bid to shore up the economy.

Oracle's gain of 5.1% helped lead the market. The software company continued a strong run that began last week with a better-than-expected profit report. Alcoa jumped 6.1% after saying it would sell its ownership stake in a Saudi Arabian joint venture to Saudi Arabian Mining Co. for $950 million in stock and $150 million in cash. Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises rose 14.5% after it said a judge dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the company, one based on allegations by a research firm that looks for financial irregularities and tries to profit when the stock prices fall. But drops for some influential Big Tech stocks kept indexes in check, including declines of 2.8% for Apple and 2% for Nvidia.

Treasury yields eased in the bond market ahead of what's expected to be the week's main event. On Wednesday, the widespread expectation is for the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years to deliver some relief to the economy. The only question is by how much the Fed will cut. Traders are shifting more bets toward a larger-than-usual move of half a percentage point, according to data from CME Group. They're anticipating a 61% chance the Fed will go beyond the more traditional cut of a quarter of a percentage point. That's up from 50% on Friday and just 30% a week ago. (More stock market stories.)

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