US: Stocks end mixed as Fed rate cut sparks volatility

Wall Street stocks finished mixed after the Federal Reserve announced its first interest rate cut of 2025 and signalled it could enact two more cuts this year.

The moves corresponded to market expectations and follow recent economic reports showing weaker job growth that Fed Chair Jerome Powell said justified a greater focus on the Fed’s labour market mandate compared with inflation.

US stocks were choppy after the decision, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 0.6 per cent at 46,018.32.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.1 per cent to 6,600.35, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.3 per cent to 22,261.33.

“Everything landed right in the middle of the fairway,” said B. Riley Wealth Management’s Art Hogan, noting that equity markets had risen in anticipation of Wednesday’s moves.

Based on the projections released on Wednesday, Hogan said Fed policy makers appeared to be close to evenly split between those who expect at least two interest rate cuts later this year and those who anticipate one or fewer.

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Powell reiterated that additional interest rate actions would depend on upcoming economic data.

Among individual companies, Nvidia fell 2.6 per cent following a report that major Chinese tech companies can no longer buy the company’s semiconductor chips.

Lyft jumped 13.1 per cent as it announced a plan with Alphabet’s Waymo to launch driverless ride-hailing services in Nashville in 2026. Alphabet dipped 0.6 per cent. AFP