Stocks rallied Wednesday following the Federal Reserve's decision to keep rates unchanged, which was expected by most market participants. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 200 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite added 1% and 1.6%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.05% or +44.06 points to 4,237.86
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.67% or +221.71 points to 33,274.58
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.64% or +210.23 points to 13,01.47
Driving market moves, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged at a range of 5.25% to 5.5% in its November policy decision, stating that "economic activity expanded at a strong pace in the third quarter." This is the second straight Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting where policymakers chose to hold rates, following a streak of 11 rate hikes issued in effort to stabilize prices.
"The fact is the committee is not thinking about rate cuts right now at all. We're not talking about rate cuts," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks following the policy decision Wednesday afternoon. "We're still very focused on the first question, which is 'have we achieved a stance of monetary policy that's sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2% over time, sustainably?' That is the question we're focusing on."
"The process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2% has a long way to go," Powell added.
There is one more policy meeting left for this year, scheduled for Dec. 12 and Dec. 13.
On the economic front, private U.S. payrolls grew by 113,000 in October, according to ADP, coming in slightly below a Dow Jones forecast of 130,000. Also, wages rose by 5.7% year-over-year, marking the smallest increase since October 2021.
Meanwhile, job openings increased slightly in September, according to the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released Wednesday. The JOLTS report showed available positions rose 56,000 from August's downwardly revised print at 9.55 million for September, signalling a still tight labor market.
Separately, manufacturing activity in the U.S. contracted at a more-than-expected rate in October, according to the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) report on Wednesday. The manufacturing index fell to 46.7 for the month, below expectations and down from September's reading of 49. Readings below the neutral level of 50 indicate contraction.
In earnings news, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) reported better-than-expected earnings late Tuesday, but issued weak forward guidance. The chipmaker expects fourth quarter sales of about $6.1 billion, below current estimates for $6.37 billion.
"We now expect data center GPU revenue to be approximately $400 million in the fourth quarter and exceed $2 billion in 2024 as revenue ramps throughout the year," CEO Lisa Su said on the earnings call Tuesday.
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) third-quarter results topped analysts' expectations on Wednesday, driven in part by strong sales from its health services division. Looking forward, CVS cut its full-year earnings guidance, now expecting unadjusted earnings to range from $6.37 to $6.61 per share. However, CVS maintained its forecast on an adjusted basis, guiding for full-year adjusted earnings of $8.50 to $8.70.
Wayfair (NYSE: W) reported disappointing third-quarter revenue on Wednesday, citing weak demand in the home goods sector. Still, the online furniture realtor reported a narrower-than-expected adjusted loss of $0.13 per share, compared to an expected $0.48.
In single-stock news, WeWork (NYSE: WE) shares dropped more than 45% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as next week.
Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) shares dropped nearly 20% Wednesday after the beauty company reduced its full-year earnings and revenue growth guidance, citing potential risks from business disruptions stemming from the Israel-Hamas war. Moreover, the company now expects its revenue growth to decline between 9% and 11% in the current quarter.
For Thursday, market participants will trade with Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) third-quarter earnings report in mind, which is due out after market close. Investors are also looking ahead towards Friday's jobs report for October.