STORY: U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, but off their lows of the day, after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged.
The Dow dipped about three-tenths of a percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each shed roughly half a percent.
The indexes pared losses after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said monetary policy was “well positioned” for the challenges at hand.
Regan Capital’s chief investment officer Skyler Weinand said that, despite recent volatility, the market remains resilient.
“We’re sitting in a pretty decent seat for the market, looking forward to be able to absorb earnings releases and new data and the administration pieces to come out in the future. So, I think I would breathe a sigh of relief that it’s not down a lot more than what it is today.”
Technology shares were the biggest drag on the S&P 500, with Nvidia down more than 4% and Microsoft also finishing lower.
The losses come two days after Chinese startup DeepSeek’s AI model sparked a massive tech selloff.
Reporting after the close… Meta Platforms said fourth-quarter revenue beat Wall Street expectations, but predicted sales in the current first quarter may not meet forecasts, sending mixed signals about how bets on pricey AI-powered tools are paying off. Its shares, up slightly at close, rose further in extended trading,
Shares of Tesla, which ended down more than 2%, also climbed after-hours despite quarterly profit and revenue falling short of Wall Street expectations. The EV-maker, however, said it was on track to roll out new, cheaper models in the first half of 2025.
And Levi Strauss forecast annual profit well below analysts’ estimates, sending its shares down more than 7% in extended trading.
