Benchmark indices on Wall Street jumped when the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, decided to keep interest rates unchanged. However, Jerome Powell announced that interest rate cuts would come later than expected, and then indicators fell again.
At the close on Wall Street, the indices finished as follows:
- The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed down 0.3%.
- Industrial heavyweight Dow Jones closed up 0.2 percent.
- The technology index closed 0.3 percent lower.
The US 10-year interest rate, “for ten years”, fell below 4.6 percent after Powell's speech.
Ahead of tonight's interest rate announcement, private sector employment figures were released which showed stronger growth in private sector job creation than expected.
According to ADP data, 192,000 jobs were created in the private sector in April, compared to the consensus that expected an increase of 175,000 jobs. In addition, March numbers were revised from 184,000 to 208,000.
AI shares fell
AMD microchip stock fell 9 percent after providing a market update. The company is roughly in the middle of the consensus estimate for sales revenue of $5.7 billion, but that clearly disappointed the market, sending the stock lower.
On the other hand, SMC stock fell 14 percent after announcing 200 percent revenue growth – the growth was somewhat below consensus estimates.
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