NEW YORK (AP) — There was little fallout on Wall Street on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve decided to hold its main interest rate steady, as investors expected.
US stock and bond markets remained virtually paralyzed, while the US dollar stabilized after its recent sharp decline. Some of the strongest action came in the gold market, where the price of the metal jumped to another record.
The S&P 500 was almost unchanged and was down less than 0.1% from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 12 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.
Seagate Technology jumped 19.1% to post the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the seller of hard drives and other data storage products reported a bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Dave Mosley cited demand driven by artificial intelligence applications, among other things.
Nvidia, the stock that has become the poster child for the AI boom, rose 1.6% and was the strongest force driving the S&P 500. It also benefited from an encouraging report from ASML, whose machinery helps make chips.
The Dutch company gave a 2026 revenue forecast that beat analysts’ expectations, and CEO Christophe Fouquet said customers have been noticeably more encouraged about “the sustainability” of AI demand. That helped allay concerns that the AI frenzy has gone too far and created a potential bubble that could burst.
On the losing side of Wall Street was Amfenol, whose shares fell 12.2% even though it reported a bigger profit than analysts had forecast. Expectations were high for the maker of fiber optic connectors and other high-tech equipment after its stock began the day up 23% so far this year.
Companies across the market are under pressure to deliver strong profit growth after their share prices hit record highs. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and profits must rise to meet quiet criticism that stock prices have become too expensive.
Apple fell 0.7% ahead of its earnings report due out on Thursday. Due to its immense size, it was the heaviest weight in the S&P 500.
In total, the S&P 500 fell 0.57 points to 6,978.03 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12.19 to 49,015.60 and the Nasdaq composite rose 40.35 to 23,857.45.
In the currency market, the US dollar stabilized as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on CNBC that the US government is not intervening in the currency market and still wants a “strong dollar.”