Investing.com – Technology stocks were the stars of the day Wednesday as the Federal Reserve held steady on interest rates and Chairman Jerome Powell pronounced the economy "in a good place."
The major averages saw small gains overall, but chip and chip-related stocks, including Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) and Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX), had decent gains as traders appeared to be betting that the Trump Administration will hold off on imposing new tariffs on imports from China.
Apple I(NASDAQ:AAPL), which manufactures most of its products in China, hit a new all-time high.
The S&P 500 was up 0.29%. The Dow Jones industrials climbed back from an early loss to end 0.11% higher. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.44% while the tech-dominated Nasdaq 100 index added 0.58%.
The market moves came as the Federal Reserve held its key federal funds rate at 1.5% to 1.75% and signaled it probably won't move rates lower or higher for some time to come, perhaps all of 2020. It would take a sustained period of inflationary pressures to get the Fed to move rates up, Chairman Jay Powell said in his new conference and the economy is able to cope with current rates.
The Fed sees a growing labor market, modestly growing wages, little inflation. The risks to the economy remain trade disputes and weak business investment.
The Dow was held back by a decline in Home Depot (NYSE:HD), which cut its guidance for fiscal 2020 same-store sales growth modestly. The shares were down 2%, which translated into more than 26 Dow points.
For much of the day, Boeing (NYSE:BA) was lower, but finished up 0.44%. The decline came as Federal Aviation Administration Chairman Steve Dickson told CNBC the agency won't recertify the 737 Max plane before the end of the year.
“If you just do the math, it’s going to extend into 2020,” Dickson said.
There are at least 10, maybe 11, milestones to complete. And Dickson did not want to seem to accelerate the recertification process. Documents released at a Congressional hearing Wednesday showed FAA staffers worried the 737 Max was potentially a more dangerous plane than anyone thought after its 2018 crash in Indonesia. It took a second crash in Ethiopia to force the FAA to ground the plane.
Crude oil fell after several days of gains. Gold was higher in New York. The 10-Year Treasury yield was lower.