US equities ended Wednesday mixed after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and signaled a divided outlook, while investors positioned ahead of major hyperscaler earnings. The S&P 500 finished little changed, as weakness in traditional sectors pulled the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.5%, while strength in technology lifted the Nasdaq 100 by 0.5%.
The Fed held rates steady, but several regional Fed presidents dissented against adopting an easing bias, highlighting persistent concerns over inflation. On the corporate front, Visa rallied 8% and AbbVie gained 3% after both reported strong quarterly results. In contrast, defensive stocks declined amid ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East.
Microsoft rose 4% during the regular session before slipping in after-hours trading, despite topping expectations for AI and cloud revenue. Alphabet advanced more than 3% after beating cloud computing estimates and reporting robust performance from its Gemini AI offerings. Amazon traded roughly flat after hours even though it significantly exceeded earnings expectations for the March quarter. Meta, however, tumbled 7% as investors questioned its sharply higher capital expenditure plans for AI.
