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Written by Ankika Biswas, Lisa Pauline Matkal, and Carolina Mandel
(Reuters) – Major U.S. stock indexes closed with modest gains on Wednesday after a volatile trading session, with investors holding their securities close to their value ahead of a presidential debate and an inflation report that policymakers at the Federal Reserve (the U.S. central bank) are closely monitoring.
“We’re in this kind of a holding pattern as we wait to see Friday’s personal consumption spending report for more information,” said Michael Green, portfolio manager at Simplify.
Leading chipmaker Nvidia (NASDAQ:) closed 0.25% higher, rising just before the closing bell to erase losses. Other major companies like Apple (NASDAQ:), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:) and Tesla (NASDAQ:) also posted gains.
Several economic data are scheduled for release this week, leading up to Friday’s release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure used to determine the course of monetary policy.
The Fed expects to cut interest rates only once this year, in December. But investors see a 56.3% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut in September, and about two cuts by the end of the year, LSEG’s interest rate probabilities app showed.
At 04:00 pm, the index rose 16.10 points, or 0.04%, to 39,128.26, gained 8.61 points, or 0.16%, to 5,477.91, and gained 87.50 points, or 0.49%, to 17,805.16.
“Investors are sitting idly by, waiting for tomorrow’s presidential debate and for additional economic news, particularly Friday’s personal consumption expenditures report,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.
Positive earnings and benign inflation data could encourage more of a shift from technology to sectors that have lagged this year, said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group.
Earlier this week, investors increased their bets on non-technology sectors.
“We will likely see this volatility continue until there is a catalyst,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.
Appliance maker Whirlpool (NYSE:) stock rose 17.1% after Reuters reported that German engineering group Robert Bosch is considering a bid for the American appliance maker.
FedEx (NYSE:) stock jumped 15.53% after the delivery giant forecast fiscal 2025 earnings above estimates, boosting the Dow Jones Transportation Index to its highest levels in more than a month.
Apple shares rose nearly 2% after Rosenblatt upgraded the iPhone maker’s shares to “buy” from “neutral.” Tesla gained 4.81% as Stifel initiated coverage with a buy rating.
Amazon shares rose by 3.90%, raising the company’s market value to more than $2 trillion, and it is the fifth American company to exceed this level.
Shares of major US banks, including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America, fell ahead of the Federal Reserve’s announcement of the results of its annual stress test for the banking sector.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 financial index fell by 0.47%.
Rivian (NASDAQ:) stock rose 23.24%, as German automaker Volkswagen (ETR:) said it would invest up to $5 billion in the American electric car maker.
General mills (NYSE:) fell 4.59% after the Cheerios cereal maker forecast annual earnings below estimates and reported a larger-than-expected decline in quarterly sales.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing stocks by a ratio of 1.41 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. There were 106 new highs and 89 new lows on the NYSE.
The S&P 500 recorded 10 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 41 new highs and 171 new lows.
Trading volume on US exchanges reached 10.59 billion shares, compared to an average of 11.83 billion shares for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
