The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 400 points on Wednesday as investors awaited minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, following the announcement that the U.S. is considering breaking up Google. Alphabet stock fell.
In recent trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 361 points, or 0.9%, to $42,438. The blue-chip index closed at an all-time high of 42,352.75 on Friday.
The S&P 500 hit an all-time high of $5,785.38 and was recently up 0.6%. The Nasdaq rose 0.5%.
Alphabet's move comes after the Justice Department announced it may ask a judge to force Google to sell parts of its business, including its Chrome browser and Android operating system, to rein in its search monopoly. Shares fell 0.2% in early trading.
“(This) just reflects how super big Big Tech has become, and the uncertainty there will be reflected in the rest of the market,” said Bradesco, head of equity strategy at BBI. Ben Laidler said.
Trading has been choppy this week, with investors adjusting expectations for rate cuts in search of new catalysts to provide more clarity on market direction. Their focus will now turn to Thursday's key inflation numbers and the upcoming third-quarter corporate earnings season.
Minutes from the September Fed meeting, where policymakers began easing monetary policy with a 50 basis point rate cut, are scheduled to be released at 2 p.m. ET.
“We expect the FOMC meeting minutes and tomorrow's CPI to reassure and calm market nerves surrounding the Fed's ability to continue lowering rates,” Laidler said.
Commentaries from a number of Fed officials, including Philip Jefferson and Thomas Birkin, are also scheduled throughout the day.
The paper said investors are overwhelmingly pricing in a 25 basis point cut in borrowing costs at the November Fed meeting, with some now seeing a slight chance the central bank will keep rates unchanged. . CME FedWatch Tools.
Until last week's strong jobs report, markets were leaning toward a deep 50 basis point rate cut in November.
Among individual stocks, Boeing fell 3.1% after negotiations between Boeing and major manufacturing unions broke down.
Shares in Arcadium Lithium soared 30% after Rio Tinto announced it would buy the miner for $6.7 billion.
Goldman Sachs shares rose 1.1%, with the Dow outperforming other indexes and financial stocks the biggest gainer among the S&P 500 sectors.
U.S.-listed stocks of Chinese companies fell as investors continued to question whether China would announce new economic stimulus.
Alibaba Group fell 2.3%, PDD Holdings fell 2.7%, and Jingdong Market fell 3.5%.
Additionally, investors were focused on the potential impact of Category 5 Hurricane Milton and the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
