By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com — The S&P 500 fell on Wednesday after swinging between gains and losses as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said it was “too early” to bet on the Fed pausing after the central bank raised interest rates for fourth consecutive time.
Down 2%, down 1.2% or 389 points, down 2.83%.
The Fed cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.75% and suggested that future hikes would face a higher limit, but Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pushed back against the idea of a Fed pause.
“[I]It’s too early to think about a pause,” Powell said at a press conference on Wednesday. The chief also hinted that the Fed is not as close to the end of its tightening cycle as many expected, saying that “the final level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected [in September].”
Powell’s somewhat hawkish comments cooled earlier optimism after the release of monetary policy, which has “changed significantly” from the previous statement, Stifel said in a note, adding that it was “a clear signal that the wave of 75bp hikes is over.”
turned positive, putting pressure on interest rate-sensitive sectors, including technology.
Semiconductor stocks were also pushed lower as Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: ) gave up trailing earnings and guidance that missed analysts’ expectations.
Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ: ), meanwhile, fell more than 10% as fourth-quarter guidance that fell just short of estimates overshadowed that bottom-line decline.
CVS Health (NYSE: ), meanwhile, raised its full-year guidance after reporting better-than-expected revenue and profit in the third quarter of the year. It rose more than 2%.
Energy fell more than 3 percent, meanwhile, even as oil prices rose after an unexpected rise in weekly U.S. crude inventories.
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: ), Phillips 66 (NYSE: ) and Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: ) were among the biggest decliners with the latter down more than 12%.
