The DOW JONES, which rose 0.17% at the opening, turns around and falls 0.62% to 43,182 points. The S&P 500 lost 0.77%, at 6,003 points. The Nasdaq fell 0.85% to 19,938 points.
Wall Street is coming back from a bearish day yesterday, Tuesday. The DOW JONES fell 0.61%, or 267.58 points, in what was its ninth consecutive day closing negative, all of which have elapsed since it set all-time closing highs above 45,000 points (45,014.04) on December 4th. He had not had nine consecutive days of falls since 1978, but If the tenth downward session occurs, we must go back to 1974, when it fell for 11 consecutive days.
The S&P 500 fell 0.39%, while the technological Nasdaq closed with a decrease of 0.32%, but remained comfortably above 20,000 points.
All eyes were on today the monetary policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The institution has complied with the script and has lowered the rates by 25 points, to a range between 4.25% and 4.50%.
However, beyond the movement in interest rates, investors were attentive to the dot plot and the Fed’s macro projections. And they have been a blow: assuming movements of 25 points, the Fed has warned that it will probably only lower rates twice more in 2025.
The record was not too good for Powell. According to data from Bespoke Investment Group, on average the S&P 500 has risen an average of 0.11% during the days of announcements in the current president’s term, while with Yellen the average increases were 0.16% and with Greenspan, of 26%. The S&P 500’s best performance in the Fed days was under Bernanke, with an average advance of 0.5%.
In fixed income, US Treasury yields had risen slightly over the past few days as Fed expectations changed, putting pressure on stocks. Today The yield on the ten-year bond rises again and stands at 4.469%. The two-year bond pays 4.255%.
In the business field, earnings season returns to the fore today, since Micron Technology’s accounts will be published tonight after the close of the regular session. The market predicts earnings of $1.76 per share, while revenue would have amounted to $8.72 billion.
Before the ringing of the bell, the accounts of General Mills were known, which has beaten profit and income forecasts, but which cuts its forecasts for the year as a whole. The company behind Häagen-Dazs ice cream achieved sales of 5.24 billion, above the 5.14 billion expected by analysts. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were $1.40 per share, beating the expected $1.22.
However, General Mills has cut its annual adjusted profit forecast, citing increased investments. It now expects it to fall in a range of between 1% and 3%, compared to the previous range of between 1% and 1% down and 1% up. Shares are down 4.95% at the market open.
It has also revealed its Jabil accounts, which soared 12% in the first stages of the negotiation. The company reported earnings of $2.00 per share, above the expected $1.88.. Revenues also beat expectations, with a figure of 7,000 million compared to the expected 6,610 million dollars. For the fiscal second quarter of 2025, the company expects a range between $1.60 and $2 per share, compared to the consensus of $1.80, and revenue of $6.1 billion and $6.7 billion, compared to a consensus of $6.28 billion.
Today NVIDIA shares point to a rebound after four consecutive days of declines that have left the blood products company in correction territory after having fallen 10% from its all-time high. However, today it bounces 2.5% in the New York morning.
In other news of the day, it has been learned that the Irish Data Protection Authority (DPC) has imposed a historic fine of 251 million euros on Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, after a leak of 29 million Facebook accounts in 2018, of which 3 million belonged to users in the European Union.
In raw materials markets, oil prices remain stable after two days of declines as investors digest weekly US inventory data. The American Petroleum Institute has announced that US stockpiles fell by 4.7 million barrels last week, which would be the fourth consecutive decline if official figures confirm it later on Wednesday.
US West Texas futures rose a slight 0.07% to $70.13 per barrel. The benchmark Brent in Europe rises 0.51% to $73.56 per barrel.
The euro fell 0.03% against the dollar, leaving the exchange rate at 1.049 dollars for each community currency.
While waiting for the Fed, today investors have also learned data from the real estate market, which shows that In November, the construction of 1,289 million homes began. The figure is below expectations, since analysts expected an average of 1.343 million, according to a Reuters poll. The October figure stood at 1,312 million.
For its part, November construction permits stood at 1.505 millioncompared to a consensus forecast of 1.43 billion, the Commerce Department announced. The October permit data had shown a level of 1,419 million.