· The S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Wednesday, as an initial boost from the likes of Apple, Boeing and General Electric following their quarterly results faded in the wake of a policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.
Stocks initially showed little reaction to the Fed’s policy statement but steadily lost ground on the heels of a news conference by chairman Jerome Powell. The Fed held rates steady as expected while offering no new guidance on its balance sheet, but Powell noted “uncertainties about the outlook remain” and noted the coronavirus outbreak in China.
Since the Fed’s last rate cut in October, its third reduction of 2019, policymakers have agreed to keep their target policy rate in the current range of 1.50% and 1.75%.
Several companies have warned of disruption to their operations due to the coronavirus outbreak, and a Chinese government economist was quoted as saying the country’s economic growth may drop to 5% or even lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 11.6 points, or 0.04%, to 28,734.45, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.84 points, or 0.09%, to 3,273.4 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 5.48 points, or 0.06%, to 9,275.16.
As earnings gather pace, analysts expect profit for S&P 500 companies to be flat in the fourth quarter, an improvement over the 0.6% decline estimated at the start of the season, according to Refinitiv data.
· Stocks in Asia dipped in Thursday morning trade as the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold and investors continued to watch for developments on the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.3% as shares of index heavyweight and conglomerate Softbank Group shed 1.04%. The Topix index also declined 0.36%.
In South Korea, the Kospi was flat. Shares of Samsung Electronics fell about 1% after the industry heavyweight posted a 34% drop in its fourth quarter operating profit, according to Reuters.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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