Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on September 19, 2024.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
the Dow Jones Industrial Average The US dollar index fell around the 42,000 level, concluding a major rally during the week that came after the first major easing of interest rate policy by the US Federal Reserve in four years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell just 6 points, or 0.01%. Standard & Poor's 500 And the Nasdaq Composite U.S. stocks fell 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high above 42,000 points, and the S&P 500 rose above 5,700 points for the first time.
All three major indexes are on track for weekly gains. The S&P 500 rose 1.4%, on track for its fifth positive week in the past six weeks and has gained more than 19% since the start of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.4% and 1.4%, respectively.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point, its first cut since 2020. In a late reaction, the market rose on Thursday as investors piled into tech names like Nvidia Stocks are set to benefit from lower prices such as: Home Depot.
Inflation is falling faster than expected, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told CNBC on Friday, in the first comments from a Fed member since Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference, leading him to support a half-point rate cut.
“Investors viewed aggressive rate cuts as a positive catalyst,” said Mark Hackett, head of investment research at Nationwide.
“The Fed was able to effectively convince investors that the large rate cut was a proactive move to maintain economic momentum, not a reactive move to stabilize it,” Hackett added. “The strong market reaction suggests that investors have confidence in the Fed and have a ‘glass is half full’ mentality.”
FedEx Sentiment took a hit on Friday after the shipping giant cut its earnings forecast. Shares fell about 14% and rivals’ shares fell. UPS They lost more than 2% of their sympathy.
