Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point as expected and investors bet on further easing down the road even as the central bank signaled that it will put further cuts on pause for now.
The central bank said that before its next policy change it would look ahead for clearer signals about the direction of the job market and inflation that "remains somewhat elevated."
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 closed up 46.17 points, or 0.67%, at 6,886.68, eyeing a return to its October 28 record closing high but ultimately falling short at the end of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 497.46 points, or 1.05%, to 48,057.75 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 77.67 points, or 0.33%, to 23,654.16. Palantir Technologies Inc. up 3%; Netflix fell 4%.
Market Movers
Nvidia fell 0.6% as investors gauged whether a U.S. plan to permit export of artificial-intelligence chips to China will result in significant sales. Nvidia's H200 AI chips would be manufactured in Taiwan but have to travel to the U.S. for a national-security review before being sent on to China, The Wall Street Journal reported.
GE Vernova surged 16%. The energy company raised its outlook and boosted its dividend and share buyback authorization. GE Vernova now sees revenue hitting $52 billion on a low double-digits compound annual growth rate by 2028, up from a previous forecast of $45 billion.
Palantir gained 3.3% after the software company won a contract with the U.S. Navy to manage the supply chain of a nuclear submarine fleet in the hope of reducing maintenance downtime. The deal, valued at $448 million, is being paid for with money from President Donald Trump's signature spending bill.
EchoStar climbed 11%, extending an upward move on the heels of a report that Elon Musk's SpaceX might be headed for a 2026 initial public offering. Satellite communications company EchoStar announced a deal to sell its AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses to SpaceX earlier this year.
GameStop fell 4.3% as third-quarter revenue declined from the same time last year. The videogame retailer reported $821 million in revenue and earnings of 24 cents a share. In the year-earlier quarter, GameStop reported revenue of $860 million and earnings of 6 cents a share.
Carvana moved 2.5% higher to $467.67. The used-car dealer's market cap surpassed the $100 billion threshold for the first time on record.
AeroVironment tumbled 13%. The company, which makes military drones, reported mixed quarterly results, even as sales climbed 151% to a record $472.5 million.
Photronics posted better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter. Shares surged 45% to $37.35, their highest close since 2001 and the largest single-day gain since 2008.
Braze, Inc., the customer engagement platform, jumped 18% after topping analysts' revenue estimates in the third quarter and boosting fiscal 2026 guidance.
Micron Technology rose 4.5% to $263.71. The chip maker is set to report earnings on Dec. 17. With just a week to go, Citi Research raised its price target on the stock to $300 from $275 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing a continued increase in memory prices that has so far been a boon to Micron.
Market News
Gold Turns Higher, Silver Adds to Record Run After Fed Rate Cut Move
Gold and silver futures gained Wednesday after the Federal Reserve trimmed rates by a quarter-point, as expected, while signaling it likely will pause further reductions as officials look for clearer signals about the direction of the job market and inflation.
A majority of Fed members indicated they will need to cut short-term rates next year, but are widely split over how much, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank's rate policy is well positioned to respond to movement in the economy, declining to provide further guidance regarding another cut in the near future.
Gold and silver are higher than before the Fed announcement, with gold up 0.5% at $4,258/oz and silver advancing further into record territory above $62/oz.
These investments would run a broad spectrum of asset classes, from digital assets to metals and funds focused on corporate takeovers, private loans and infrastructure deals.
Oracle Tumbles as Soaring RPOs Not Enough to Offset Mixed Q2 Results
Oracle shares fell 7% in extended trading on Wednesday as the IT giant continued to rack up deal, but its fiscal second-quarter results were mixed compared to Wall Street's forecast.
For the period ending Nov. 30, Oracle said it earned an adjusted $2.26 per share as revenue rose 14% year-over-year to $16.06B. Analysts had expected adjusted earnings of $1.64 per share on $16.19B in revenue.
Cloud revenue (which includes infrastructure and applications) came in at $8B, up 36% year-over-year, but below the $8.04B estimate. Infrastructure revenue soared 66% (in constant currency) year-over-year to $4.1B, while application revenue rose 11% year-over-year to $3.9B. Oracle also said that Fusion Cloud ERP revenue rose 18% to $1.1B. Total remaining performance obligations soared 438% during the period to $523B.
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