FX.co ★ US Stocks Swing to Trade Higher

U.S. stocks rebounded from earlier lows on Wednesday following comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who emphasized the persistent strength of the economy, helping to alleviate some recession fears amid ongoing ambiguity regarding future economic policy. The S&P 500 made modest gains, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 300 points. However, pressure on technology giants kept the Nasdaq slightly below its starting point. As anticipated, the Federal Reserve opted to maintain interest rates at their current level and continued its current pace of reducing its balance sheet. Nevertheless, the central bank highlighted growing uncertainty in the economic landscape, with trade barriers posing risks of inflation and higher unemployment, although solid economic indicators continue to show retrospective evidence of a healthy economy. In the corporate sector, industrial and financial stocks predominantly moved upward. Disney's stock rose by 10% following an unexpected rise in streaming subscribers. Conversely, Alphabet's stock dropped more than 8% after Apple, down by 2%, announced its exploration of AI-driven search engines for its Safari browser, potentially jeopardizing its partnership with Google.