Wall Street gained on Wednesday following the Federal Open Market Committee's afternoon release of its July monetary policy decision. The Federal Reserve reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the U.S. economy, which has been damaged by an array of factors due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The central bank announced that it will maintain the benchmark interest rate unchanged at its near-zero level, a decision that was anticipated by most market participants.
"The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus," the central bank said in a statement. "The ongoing public health crisis will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term."
Here's how the market settled for the mid-week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.25% or +40.17 points to 3,258.61
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.62% or +162.76 points to 26,542.04
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.35% or +140.85 points to 10,542.94
For Major Stock News, Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK) became a new favorite growth stock on Wednesday, with shares skyrocketing over 300% after the U.S. government pushed the company to produce ingredients for generic drugs in response to the pandemic. The stock's trading was halted over 15 times during the session due to high volatility levels. Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) also pressed higher after the software company reported a 97% quarterly growth year-to-year in the company's top line as more businesses shifted to selling products online.
For Sector Performance, every industry gained following Wednesday's small market rally. The sector increases were as follows: Energy +2.13%, Financials +2.02%, Real Estate +1.89%, Information Technology +1.50%, Industrials +1.49%, Health Care +1.08%, Consumer Discretionary +1.05%, Materials +0.85%, Communication Services +0.78%, Utilities +0.44% and Consumer Staples +0.15%.
For Commodities and Currency, oil prices climbed modestly on Wednesday, as record coronavirus cases held gains back. West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) bumped up to $41.27 per barrel, while Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) slightly gained to $43.67 per barrel. Gold (NYSE: GLD) pushed higher to a record on Wednesday after the Fed kept their benchmark interest rates unchanged. Spot gold gained 1% to $1,979.53 per ounce and futures rose 0.4% to $1,953.40 per ounce. Conversely, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) fell to a two-year low due to the Fed's steady interest rates. The DXY Index fell 0.26% compares to other currencies.
For Thursday, weekly jobless claims and the U.S. quarterly gross domestic product data are set to release in the morning. Thursday is also a very busy day for earnings, with Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and pandemic-giant Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) slated to report.