Wall Street Mixed as Fed Holds Rates; Gold and Tech Stocks Shine

U.S. markets ended uneven after the Fed paused rate cuts amid economic uncertainty, while gold and hardware stocks hit record highs and Treasury yields climbed post-announcement.

The S&P 500 edged down 0.57 points or less than a tenth of a% to 6,978.03, the Dow crept up 12.19 points or less than a tenth of a% to 49,015.60 and the Nasdaq rose 40.35 points 0.2% to 23,857.45.

Wall Street saw another session of choppy trading after the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.503.75%, following three consecutive quarter-point cuts. The decision, made amid heightened economic uncertainty was not unanimous as Governors Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller favored a further 25 basis-point reduction.

 

The Fed reiterated its focus on balancing maximum employment with bringing inflation back to 2%. Analysts noted a clear majority supporting a pause in rate cuts until clearer signs of labor market weakness emerge. With inflation still elevated and rate stability anticipated through Fed Chair Jerome Powells tenure ending in May, investors turned their attention to major tech earnings released after the close.

Gold stocks moved sharply higher amid a continued surge by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.7% to a new record closing high. computer hardware stocks was substantially strong, as reflected by the 2.6% jump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. The index also reached a new record closing high amid a spike by shares of Seagate Technology, which soared by 19.1% after the data storage company reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results. Semiconductor and networking stocks too witnessed considerable strength while oil service, pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks showed significant moves to the downside.

Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.1%, South Korea's Kospi jumped by 1.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 2.6%. Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.1%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.5% and the German DAX Index fell by 0.3%.

In the bond market, treasuries moved lower early in the session and saw continued weakness after the Fed announcement. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, climbed 2.8 bps at 4.25%.

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