US stock indexes ended mixed Wednesday after drifting between small losses and gains. Trading was relatively subdued a day after strong reports on the economy stirred up worries that inflation and interest rates may remain higher than expected.
- The S&P 500 rose 9.22 points, or 0.2%, to 5,918.25.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 106.84 points, or 0.3%, to 42,635.20.
- The Nasdaq composite fell 10.80 points, or 0.1%, to 19,478.88.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said in a speech Wednesday he still expects the central bank to deliver more easing of rates in 2025, pushing back against nascent speculation it may already be done after cutting three times since September, the
AP reports.
The Fed has already signaled fewer rate cuts in 2025 than previously anticipated and recent minutes from its December meeting confirm that more cautious view. Waller said he doesn't expect tariffs that are possibly coming under President-elect Trump to have a "significant or persistent effect" on inflation. And even though inflation has shown stubbornness recently, he still sees it trending downward over the long term. "If the outlook evolves as I have described here, I will support continuing to cut our policy rate in 2025," he said. "The pace of those cuts will depend on how much progress we make on inflation, while keeping the labor market from weakening."
One of the reports released Wednesday suggested US employers outside of the government slowed their hiring in December by more than economists expected. That could offer a hint of what Friday's more comprehensive jobs report from the Labor Department will show. The hope is that the jobs report will show enough strength to keep worries of a recession stifled but not so much that it prevents the Fed from cutting rates. A separate report said fewer US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected.
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In the stock market, eBay jumped 9.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 on a collaboration with Meta Platforms where a pilot of select eBay listings will appear on Facebook Marketplace in the United States, Germany, and France. Cal-Maine Foods climbed 1% after the egg producer reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Sherman Miller said it sold more eggs thanks in part to strong demand from the seasonal boost it gets leading into Thanksgiving.
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