The S&P 500 slid on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged in its first policy decision of the year, while Nvidia slipped following a strong session.
The broad market index fell 0.47% to close at 6,039.31, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.51% to end at 19,632.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 136.83 points, or 0.31%, to 44,713.52.
Nvidia shares hit their lows of the session after Bloomberg News reported Trump administration officials have discussed curbing chip sales of the company to China following the emergence of the DeepSeek AI model. Shares ended the session down 4%. For the week, the artificial intelligence darling is down more than 13%.
The Fed left the federal funds rate in a range of 4.25% to 4.50%. The Fed’s postmeeting statement offered a more cautious view toward sticky inflation, providing investors with an explanation behind Wednesday’s interest rate pause.
“The unemployment rate has stabilized at a low level in recent months, and labor market conditions remain solid,” new language in the statement said. “Inflation remains somewhat elevated.”
“The statement was a little hawkish, but policymakers are on hold with a long break until the March meeting. Data between now and then will set the tone for that next big decision,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. “Today’s meeting is a non-event for Fed watchers. The central bank wants to be less of a factor over the next month as Trump takes the spotlight.”
During a press conference that followed the decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he has had “no contact” with Donald Trump since the newly inaugurated president told business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week that he would demand the central bank lower interest rates. The two have had a contentious relationship dating back to Trump’s first term.
A volley of Big Tech earnings are also due Wednesday afternoon, with Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla issuing their quarterly reports.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/28/stock-market-today-live-updates.html