The Dow ended lower and the S&P 500 finished flat on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates but Fed Chair Jerome Powell said another rate cut in December is far from assured.
The Nasdaq registered another record closing high, boosted by Nvidia after the AI chipmaker made history as the first company to reach $5 trillion in market value.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.37 points, or 0.16%, to 47,632.00, the S&P 500 ended flat at 6,890.59 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 130.98 points, or 0.55%, to 23,958.47.
Market Movers
Nvidia rose 3% and surpassed a valuation of $5 trillion, making it the first company to hit the milestone. It has been just 78 trading days since Nvidia hit $4 trillion. The gains came after CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia now has visibility on more than $500 billion of cumulative revenue for its current Blackwell AI chips and future Rubin chips through 2026. President Donald Trump remarked he may discuss the Blackwell chips with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders meet Thursday.
Micron Technology gained 2.1% after its larger rival in the memory chip space, South Korea’s SK Hynix, forecast a “supercycle” of demand powered by the boom in artificial-intelligence investments..
Seagate Technology climbed 19% after the data storage company topped Wall Street earnings estimates in its fiscal first quarter and forecast its profit and revenue for the current second quarter also would top expectations. Other storage shares also climbed with SanDisk up over 16%.
CVS Health declined 2%. The health insurer posted third-quarter adjusted earnings and total revenue that topped analysts’ expectations. However, CVS Health swung to a net loss as it posted a $5.7 billion goodwill impairment charge tied to its senior clinics business, which it bought in 2023.
Caterpillar jumped 12% after the maker of heavy construction equipment reported better-than-expected-third quarter earnings and revenue.
Verizon Communications gained 2.3%. The wireless carrier beat third-quarter earnings estimates, missed on revenue, and promised to make big changes to its business under new CEO Dan Schulman.
Shares of Caesars Entertainment tumbled 15% after the casino operator reported disappointing quarterly earnings, driven in part by weak results in Las Vegas. Revenue in the city, which accounts for about one-third of Caesars’ business, dropped 9.8% from a year earlier.
Fiserv sank 44% after the financial-technology company said it expects full-year adjusted earnings of $8.50 to $8.60 a share, down from its previous outlook of $10.15 to $10.30. BTIG analysts noted that sentiment was “already very weak” ahead of the report, and the guidance cut “will only maker investor appetite more challenged.” Fiserv also named co-presidents and a new finance chief.
Bloom Energy soared 18% after posting third-quarter adjusted profit of 15 cents a share, beating analysts’ expectations of 10 cents. Revenue of $519 million outpaced expectations for $428 million. Bloom Energy shares have risen more than 400% in 2025, largely on expectations that it will play a role in providing power for AI data centers.
Enphase Energy fell 15% after the maker of solar-power inverters said its third-quarter profit and revenue rose from a year ago, but issued fourth-quarter revenue guidance that missed analysts’ expectations.
Teradyne shares jumped 21% after the automatic test equipment designer said it expects a 27% jump in sales in the fourth quarter as “AI-related test demand remains robust across compute, networking and memory segments.”
Stride plunged 54% after the online education company’s revenue guidance for its fiscal second quarter and fiscal year missed analysts’ forecasts. Company executives said on a call with analysts that investments in third-party platforms to upgrade its online learning platform didn’t go as smoothly as expected. That and other factors led to about 10,000 to 15,000 fewer enrollments.
Market News
Fed Lowers Rates, but Powell Suggests Move May Be the Last of 2025
A policy divide within the U.S. central bank and a lack of federal government data may put another interest rate cut out of reach this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, as he acknowledged the threats that officials see to the job market but also the risky nature of making further rate moves without a fuller picture of the economy.
The Fed on Wednesday cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, as a way to temper any further weakening of the job market. But the central bank's new policy statement, opens new tab included several references to the lack of official data during a federal government shutdown, and Powell told reporters later that policymakers are likely to become more cautious if it deprives them of further job and inflation reports.
OpenAI Lays Groundwork for Juggernaut IPO at up to $1 Trillion Valuation
OpenAI is laying the groundwork for an initial public offering that could value the company at up to $1 trillion, three people familiar with the matter said, in what could be one of the biggest IPOs of all time.
OpenAI is considering filing with securities regulators as soon as the second half of 2026, some of the people said. In preliminary discussions, the company has looked at raising $60 billion at the low end and likely more, the people said. They cautioned that talks are early and plans - including the figures and timing - could change depending on business growth and market conditions.
