Stock Market Today: Dow Flat After Fed Rate Decision; S&P 500 and ...

Stocks gained steam after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell wrapped up his latest FOMC press conference.

The S&P 500 was up 0.9% to 5982.05, putting itself in striking distance of the 6000 mark. The Dow was up 71 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.7%.

The S&P 500 was being lifted by a smaller group of large stocks; the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF was up only 0.3%. On the flip side, the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF was up 2.4%. The Mag 7 ETF offers exposure to Apple, Amazon.com, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Tesla, and Nvidia.

"The balance of risks gives the Fed ample room to lower the Fed Funds rate well into 2025,” writes Jamie Cox, Managing Partner for Harris Financial Group. “Markets should not expect supersized rate cuts unless the economy turns south and doesn't look at all likely for a while.”

Powell was fairly dovish during the conference. Asked about how the central bank would react to stagflation, he said his goal is to avoid such a situation entirely. He reiterated that while the labor market has cooled, the economy has continued to show positive signs.

“This further recalibration of our policy stance will help maintain the strength of the economy and the labor market and will continue to enable further progress on inflation as we move toward a more neutral stance over time,” Powell said.

Powell shot down most questions related to politics, though he did confirm he would not step down if asked by the Trump administration.