Fed Rate Decision Didn't Move Markets

Few ripples washed through financial markets Wednesday after the Federal Reserve decided to keep its main interest rate steady, just like virtually all of Wall Street was expecting. The US stock and bond markets both remained at virtual standstills, while the US dollar stabilized following its sharp slide from recent weeks. Some of the biggest action remained in the gold market, where the metal's price soared to another record.

• The S&P 500 fell 0.57 points, or less than 0.1%, to 6,978.03.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12.19 points, or less than 0.1%, to 49,015.60.
• The Nasdaq composite rose 40.35 points, or 0.2%, to 23,857.45.

The Fed's chair, Jerome Powell, said that interest rates look to be "in a good place" at the moment, and the central bank can wait to see how things progress, the AP reports. In the meantime, "the economy has once again surprised us with its strength," he said.

Seagate Technology jumped 19.1% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the seller of hard drives and other data-storage products reported a bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Dave Mosley cited demand driven by artificial-intelligence applications, among other things. Nvidia, the stock that's become the poster child of the AI boom, climbed 1.6% and was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500. It also benefited from an encouraging report from ASML, whose machinery helps make chips. The Dutch company gave a forecast for revenue in 2026 that topped analysts' expectations, and CEO Christophe Fouquet said customers have been notably more encouraged about "the sustainability" of AI demand.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Amphenol, whose stock tumbled 12.2% even though it reported a stronger profit than analysts had forecast. Expectations were high for the maker of fiber-optic connectors and other high-tech equipment after its stock came into the day with an already big surge of 23% for the young year so far. Apple slipped 0.7% ahead of its profit report coming on Thursday and was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

In the foreign-exchange market, the US dollar stabilized as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on CNBC that the US government is not intervening in the currency market and continues to want a "strong dollar." The dollar was up against the euro, British pound, and other rivals, a day after an index measuring the US dollar's value against several of its peers dropped to its weakest level since early 2022. The dollar has been generally weakening since President Trump entered the White House last year, and its descent accelerated after Trump threatened tariffs earlier this month against several European countries that he said opposed his taking control of Greenland.