Wednesday saw a little increase in U.S. equities, and the S&P 500 reached its second consecutive all-time closing high as investors analyzed U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals and the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting.
S&P 500 Edges to Record Closing High as Fed Minutes Parsed:
Wednesday saw a little increase in U.S. equities, and the S&P 500 reached its second consecutive all-time closing high as investors analyzed U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals and the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting.
The day saw advances for all three of the leading U.S. equities indices. The U.S. central bank maintained its benchmark interest rate during its January policy meeting. As per the minutes, officials voiced worries about persistent inflation and the possible impact of Trump’s proposed policies—specifically, tariffs—on their attempts to lower price increases to their desired level.
“There was some discussion (in the minutes) that there may be some economic slowing ahead,” stated Paul Nolte, market strategist and senior investment adviser at Murphy & Sylvest in Elmhurst, Illinois. “Perhaps it is making markets consider a rate decrease by the Fed. It remains an option.
“But until they have a little more clarity on what the tariffs look like, they’re not willing to do anything,” Nolte said. Accordingly, it’s best to wait and see.
As the most recent in a string of actions that have sparked worries about the potential repercussions of a global trade war, Trump declared on Tuesday that he would apply tariffs “in the neighborhood of 25%” on medicines, semiconductors, and automobiles.
Nolte stated, “I believe that people are beginning to view it as a blustery or bargaining chip, more bark than bite.”
According to the Commerce Department, lackluster demand, high mortgage rates, and freezing weather caused the 9.8% decline in house starts in January.
With a 1.5% decline, housing stocks were underperforming. 44,627.59, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 71.25 points, or 0.16%. The Nasdaq Composite nudged up 14.99 points, or 0.07%, to 20,056.25, while the S&P 500 gained 14.57 points, or 0.24%, at 6,144.15.
Healthcare saw the most significant percentage increase out of the 11 major S&P sectors, while financials and materials saw the most declines.
According to LSEG, 74% of the S&P 500 members have reported better-than-expected results as the fourth quarter earnings season draws close.
According to LSEG, analysts now predict a 15.3% year-over-year increase in S&P 500 earnings for the fourth quarter, a considerable improvement from the initial forecast of 9.6%. Nikola, an electric truck manufacturer, had a 39.1% decline after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Following a quarterly loss, Celanese, a specialty chemicals firm, fell 21.5%.
Following its fourth-quarter results and the announcement that the payments processor had agreed to purchase Global Blue for $2.5 billion, Shift4’s stock fell 17.5%. Global Blue’s stock increased 17.5%.
Analog Devices exceeded quarterly revenue and profit projections, a 9.7% increase. On the NYSE, declining issues advance by a ratio of 1.1 to 1. The NYSE saw 101 new lows and 254 new highs.
On the Nasdaq, falling items outpaced advancers by a ratio of 1.22 to 1, as 2,389 equities sank while 1,962 stocks increased. The Nasdaq Composite had 96 new highs and 119 new lows, while the S&P 500 saw 28 new 52-week highs and seven new lows.
In contrast to the average of 15.57 billion shares for the whole session during the previous 20 trading days, the volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.36 billion.
