“A rate cut in December is not a foregone conclusion. On the contrary,” Powell said at a news conference shortly after the Fed announced a 25 basis point rate cut as a government shutdown cast a shadow over the economic outlook.
At 2:45 PM ET, the Dow Jones fell 170.61 points, or 0.36%, to 47,473.39; the S&P 500 fell 25.10 points, or 0.36%, to 6,851.33; and the Nasdaq fell 6.89 points, or 0.03%, to 23,764.00.
Earlier in the day, Nvidia shares rose 2.2%, storming past the milestone, after CEO Jensen Huang announced $500 billion in orders for AI chips and plans to build seven supercomputers for the US government.
The stock is up more than 50% this year and is at the forefront of Wall Street’s AI-driven rally. Apple and Microsoft both crossed the $4 trillion market cap mark on Tuesday, amid growing optimism about AI partnerships.
“Investors expect Nvidia and other tech companies to continue to beat earnings expectations, not just for this quarter but for future quarters as well. This tech bull market remains largely intact,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. The upcoming results from Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet could determine the fate of the AI trading that has powered the record rally in the US stock market.
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