Wall Street today: US stocks trade in green as Fed cuts benchmark rates, dollar drops

US stock indices gained on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve delivered its first interest rate cut in more than four years.

Meanwhile, the dollar fell. At 12 midnight (India Time), the dollar index was down 0.46% at 100.45, the lowest since July 2023.

At 12:30 am (Indian time), Dow Jones rose 103.40 points, or 0.25%, to 41,709.58, the S&P 500 index gained 22.31 points, or 0.40%, to 5,656.89 and Nasdaq gained 132.71 points, or 0.75%, to 17,760.77.

After a two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the US Federal Reserve announced a 50 bps cut in its overnight interest rate to 4.75- 5% for the first time in four years.

Before the Fed rate cut announcement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 40.18 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 41,560.69, the S&P 500 had gained 3.11 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 5,637.69 and the Nasdaq Composite had edged up 22.76 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 17,650.82.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22.7 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 41,628.91. The S&P 500 rose 7.1 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 5,641.68, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 35.3 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 17,663.383.

The US dollar slipped on Wednesday as Treasury yields edged higher.

Intuitive Machines stock climbed 57 per cent after NASA awarded it with a contract worth up to $4.82 billion for communication and navigation services.

Shares of Apple climbed 1 per cent, Alphabet added 0.41 per cent, and Microsoft slipped 0.57 per cent.

In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.67 per cent from 3.65 per cent late on Tuesday. The 2-year yield rose to 3.62 per cent from 3.60 per cent.

Crude oil

Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday on signs of higher supply countering mideast tension.

Benchmark Brent traded near $73 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was below $71.

Bullion

Gold prices gained on Wednesday on a weaker US dollar.

Spot gold was up 0.3 per cent to $2,575.89 per ounce as of 1110 GMT. US gold futures gained 0.4 per cent to $2,602.40. Spot silver fell 0.5 per cent to $30.59 per ounce.