Investing.com - The S&P 500 closed at record highs Wednesday, for a second-straight day, shrugging off signs from the Federal Reserve of a pause on rate cuts.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (21:00 GMT), the benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.2% and had hit a fresh record high of 6,140.88. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.1%, and the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 71 points 0.2%.
Fed’s January minutes reiterates market view of extended pause on rates
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its January meeting, but it didn’t reveal much in the way of new insight into Fed monetary policy at time when many expect the Fed to hold rates steady for an extended period.
"Many participants, however, emphasized that additional evidence of continued disinflation would be needed to support the view that inflation was returning sustainably to 2 percent," the fed minutes showed.
The minutes echoed remarks from several officials this week, who backed their decision in January to push pause on a series of rate cuts that stretched back into 2024, highlighting an inflation rate above the Fed’s 2% target level and resilience in the broader economy.
Apple unveils cheaper iPhone 16, Arista Networks slides on demand worries; Occidental guidance falls short
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) ended just above the flatline after it unveiled a new lower-priced iPhone model on Wednesday dubbed the iPhone 16e, which is set to hit shelves later this month.
In individual stocks, shares in Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) slid more than 6%, with analysts noting a year-over-year decline in revenue from Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), a major customer of the networking equipment provider.
Meanwhile, Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) shares were more than 4% higher after the oil and gas firm unveiled production forecasts that were short of estimates, but announced plans to divest some of its upstream assets for $1.2 billion.
Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY), meanwhile fell 10% after its fourth-quarter revenue fell shy of Wall Street’s expectations.
(Scott Kanowsky contributed to this report)