Wall Street clawed back some of Wednesday’s steep losses after the Federal Reserve pulled back its forecast for rate cuts next year.
The Fed lowered its benchmark, short-term fed funds rate late Wednesday by a quarter percentage point, as expected, but pared back its forecast for rate cuts next year. It only expects to cut its rate twice, by a quarter precentage point each time amid forecasts for higher inflation. That’s down from its September forecast for four rate cuts at a quarter-point each. Prospects for fewer rate cuts and higher inflation pummeled all three main U.S. stock indexes, which posted their sharpest daily declines since August.
“Santa came early and dropped a 25 (quarter percentage point) rate cut in the market’s stocking but accompanied it with a note saying that there would be coal next year,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management.
By Thursday afternoon, the indexes had bounced back a little. The broad S&P 500 index was up 0.40%, or 23.36 points, at 5,895.52, and the tech-lade Nasdaq was up 0.48%, or 92.31 points, at 19,485.01. The blue-chip Dow was up 0.43%, or 184.02 points, at 42,510.89 and on track to snap a 10-day losing streak, its longest since 1974.
Economy still strong
The U.S. economy grew at a 3.1% seasonally adjusted annualized pace between July and September, which is 0.3 percentage point better than the previous estimate by the Commerce Department and above the 2.9% Dow Jones consensus estimate.
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Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of all activity in the $29.4 trillion U.S. economy, rose 3.7% in the quarter, 0.2 percentage point faster than the prior estimate.
Eugenio Aleman, Raymond James’ chief economist, said the report corroborated assertions earlier this week by the chairman of the Federal Reserve that “there are no signs, for now, of economic weakness.”
Around the markets
In company news, big movers included:
Micron (MU): The chip company forecast quarterly revenue and profit below estimates.
Accenture (ACN): The IT services provider beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue.
Lennar (LEN): The homebuilder reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the final quarter of its fiscal year
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX): Its experimental non-opioid drug showed little difference from the results of a placebo for reducing pain in a mid-stage study.
Darden Restaurants (DRI): The restaurant chain delivered strong quarterly results and outlook.
Contributing: Reuters.
Medora Lee is a money, markets and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
