Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 17, 2024.
NYSE
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher on Thursday, rebounding from its 10th straight loss.
The 30-stock Dow added 387 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 gained 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.1%.
Stocks plunged Wednesday after the Federal Reserve struck a heavy blow to the roaring bull market, signaling that it was likely to only cut interest rates twice next year, down from the four reductions that had been penciled in during their last forecast in September. The central bank also trimmed its benchmark overnight borrowing rate a quarter percentage point Wednesday, to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, but the question now is what policymakers will do in 2025.
“I think that this correction could last a bit,” Harvest Portfolio Management CEO Paul Meeks told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “You’ve seen the marquee name Nvidia come down, so what I would expect people to do [and] what I would recommend people to do is to maybe keep some powder dry.”
Chair Jerome Powell didn’t offer investors much in the way of immediate comfort. “We’re at 4.3% — that’s meaningfully restrictive and I think it’s a well-calibrated rate for us to continue to make progress on inflation while keeping a strong labor market,” Powell said at a press conference following the Fed meeting, noting that cutting rates in recent months has allowed the central bank to “be more cautious as we consider more adjustments to our policy rate.”
Leading up to Wednesday’s rate move, Wall Street was betting on the Fed to stay more aggressive in lowering borrowing costs, which affects everything from what companies pay to raise capital to how much it costs consumers to buy a new house or car.
But with the revamped Fed outlook, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1,123.03 points, or 2.58%, to 42,326.87 —posting its longest losing streak since 1974, and putting the index on track for its worst weekly performance since March 2023. The S&P 500 tumbled 2.95% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 3.56% as the tech-heavy index saw losses pick up towards the end of the session. The 30-stock Dow and S&P 500 both logged their biggest one-day loss since August, when the unwinding of the yen carry trade rocked markets.
Treasury yields jumped following the Fed’s cautious outlook, further pressuring shares. The 10-year Treasury yield rose more than 13 basis points to cross 4.50%. It was up further early Thursday.
The Cboe Volatility Index, known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge” also soared, signaling heightened investor uncertainty over the path of interest rates.
In early trading Thursday, Micron Technology plunged 14% after the chipmaker reported weaker-than-expected guidance for the second quarter.