S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq Close Higher as Fed Holds Rates Steady

The S&P 500 closed at 7,744.20, up 0.28%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19% to 52,475.10 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.27% to 26,549.85. The Russell 2000 outpaced the larger indexes, climbing 0.41% to 2,830.51. The 10-year Treasury yield edged up 1.00% to 5.044%, and the VIX volatility index fell 3.60% to 16.89 on a day the Federal Reserve left its target range for interest rates unchanged, with the upper end at 4%.

The biggest S&P 500 moves

Vertiv Holdings led the S&P 500 with a 16.48% jump after MarketWatch reported that the data-center infrastructure company's earnings signaled the artificial-intelligence buildout is accelerating rather than slowing. Flex also rose sharply, up 11.61%, which Barron's tied to strong earnings and investor interest in the company's planned spinoff of its AI infrastructure business. Oracle climbed 10.58% after CNBC reported the company expanded its partnership with OpenAI, adding new chip suppliers to its cloud infrastructure at its AI World conference. Sandisk gained 7.66%, which MarketWatch linked to strong results from South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix lifting sentiment across its US peers.

On the downside, F5 fell 20.43% even after beating earnings estimates; Benzinga reported that Piper Sandler downgraded the stock, pointing to the hardware upgrade cycle running its course and growth likely having peaked. CoStar Group dropped 13.96%, and C.H. Robinson fell 11.14%, which Benzinga linked to weaker freight-sector results after peer Landstar System missed earnings and cited rising insurance and claims costs. Lennox International declined 10.59% and Baker Hughes fell 7.36%; no source in our facts explained those moves.

Sectors

Six of the eleven S&P 500 sectors finished higher. Technology led with a gain of 0.89%, followed by financials and energy, while utilities lagged with a decline of 0.84%, followed by real estate and communication services.

New highs and lows

Eighteen S&P 500 stocks touched a 52-week high Wednesday, including LabCorp, Charles River Laboratories and Fortive. Twelve stocks touched a 52-week low, including C.H. Robinson, Boston Scientific and Xylem.

On the calendar

Today's mortgage rate release showed the average 30-year rate at 7.37%, down from 7.41% prior, with no consensus given. The goods trade balance came in at -$134.9 billion, wider than the -$130 billion forecast, while wholesale inventories rose 0.6% against a 0.5% estimate and retail inventories ex autos jumped 0.4%, well above the -0.1% forecast. Weekly crude oil inventories fell 1.89 million barrels versus a forecast of no change, while gasoline stocks rose 3.87 million barrels against an expected draw of 0.9 million. The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow estimate for the fourth quarter stood at 3.3%, and the Federal Reserve left its target range unchanged, with the upper end at 4% as expected, followed by a press conference.

Tomorrow brings several closely watched US data points: the Core PCE Price Index for September, expected at 3.1% year over year and 0.3% month over month; personal spending, forecast to rise 0.6%; personal income, forecast to rise 0.3%; initial jobless claims, expected at 199,000; and third-quarter GDP growth, forecast at 3.2%. Several S&P 500 companies will report results before tomorrow's open, including Caterpillar, D.R. Horton, Bristol Myers Squibb, Ameriprise Financial and Carrier Global, with Amazon and Coinbase Global reporting after the close.