US stock indexes edged lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kicked off its efforts to prevent a recession with a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates.
- The S&P 500 fell 16.32 points, or 0.3%, to 5,618.26 after a day of bobbing higher and lower.
- T he Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 103.08 points, or 0.2%, to 41,503.10.
- The Nasdaq composite fell 54.76 points, or 0.3%, to 17,573.30.
Because the Fed's
first cut to interest rates in four years was so well telegraphed, and markets had already moved so much in anticipation of it, Wall Street's reactions weren't that big despite the momentous move by the Fed, the
AP reports. Treasury yields edged higher.
The move by the Fed helps financial markets in two big ways. It eases the brakes off the economy, which has been slowing under the weight of higher rates, and it gives a boost to prices for all kinds of investments. Besides stocks, gold and bond prices had already rallied in recent months on expectations that cuts to rates were coming. On Wall Street, stocks of oil-and-gas producers and other companies whose profits are most closely tied to the strength of the economy helped lead the way.
Utilities and other dividend-paying stocks that tend to hold up better during economic downturns, meanwhile, lagged behind the market. That could be a signal that Wall Street sees lower odds of painful recession following the Fed's cut, according to Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
- Intuitive Machines soared 38.3% after NASA awarded it with a contract worth up to $4.82 billion for communication and navigation services the space agency will use to establish a long-term presence on the moon.
- Trading in Tupperware Brands remained halted after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Its stock has been sinking, down to 51 cents, since a mini-revival early in the pandemic sent its stock above $30.
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