U.S. Daily Market Review

U.S. markets held steady near unchanged levels for most of the session as investors waited to hear the latest from the Federal Reserve. When the report was released at 2pm EST markets headed steadily higher, with the Fed holding interest rates unchanged as expected, while also indicating that there will be three rate cuts by the end of 2024. The rally puts markets back into record territory after some weakness ahead of the Fed decision this week.

Heading into the final hour of trading in New York the S&P 500 is holding a 0.6% gain, the Nasdaq is 0.9% higher, the Dow Industrials are up by 0.8%, and the small cap Russell 2000 is also enjoying a 0.8% advance.

On a per sector basis nearly all eleven of the S&P subsectors are trading in positive territory, with only the healthcare sector showing a loss of 0.5%.

Leading the charge higher today is the consumer discretionary sector, which trades 1.4% higher on expectations for lower interest rates to provide some relief to consumer’s wallets. Communications services and industrials are also performing well, trading 1.1% higher. Next up is the financials, which are trading 1% higher, even though lower interest rates lower their revenue potential.

Rounding things out we have the materials sector with a 0.9% gain, technology trading 0.8% higher, real estate rising by 0.3%, and the consumer staples and energy sectors edging higher by a slight 0.1%.

Gold is also enjoying a 1.1% advance today as lower interest rates are largely positive for the yield-less precious metal. Elsewhere oil is falling off a five-month high, losing 2% on Wednesday as a stronger U.S. dollar is weighing on the dollar denominated commodity.