US Stocks Close Higher As Fed Holds Rates Steady

NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- United States (US) stocks ended higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve opted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged, as investors weighed persistent inflation concerns and the prospect of further rate hikes, Xinhua reported.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 97.53 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 52,475.1. The benchmark S&P 500 added 21.38 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 7,743.98, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 72.04 points, or 0.27 per cent, to close at 26,549.85.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed in positive territory, with technology and energy leading the market higher by advancing 0.48 per cent and 0.41 per cent, respectively. Bucking the upward momentum, utilities and real estate paced the decliners, sliding 0.88 per cent and 0.65 per cent, respectively.

Following a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted in a split decision to hold the federal funds target range steady at 3.75 per cent to four per cent, after raising rates by a quarter percentage point in September. The decision revealed divisions within the committee, with Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Fed Governor Lisa Cook dissenting in favour of an immediate 25-basis-point rate hike.

In its policy statement, the US central bank emphasised that incoming economic data will guide the timing and scale of future moves, noting that "the accumulation of more information will help the Committee determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the committee's two per cent goal."

"Ensuring price stability and watching inflation is not about some fixed date on a calendar or some isolated data point," Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said. "It's about ensuring we have clear objectives and it's about monetary policy strategy," he added.

Financial analysts widely noted that the October pause sets the stage for a potential year-end rate increase. In a written note, ING Bank observed that policymakers will assess two employment reports and one inflation print before their next gathering in December. They pointed out that because the November consumer price index will be released the day after that meeting, officials will have access to internal figures beforehand.

In corporate developments, shares of enterprise software and cloud infrastructure provider Oracle jumped 10.73 per cent after management issued an ambitious fiscal 2030 revenue target of US$225 billion, representing an annualised growth rate of 35 per cent.

Market participants are now turning their attention to after-the-bell quarterly results from mega-cap cloud and artificial intelligence companies Microsoft and Alphabet. 

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA