Stock market mostly up after Fed decides to cut interest rate

NEW YORK» Major U.S. stock indexes closed mostly higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate for a second time this year, citing slowing global economic growth and uncertainty over U.S. trade conflicts.

Gains in banks, utilities and technology companies outweighed losses elsewhere in the market, which had been broadly lower until the last hour of trading. Bond yields moved lower.

Stocks initially declined after the central bank announced the widely expected rate cut. Its policy statement failed to indicate whether more rate cuts were likely this year, though the central bank left the door open for additional rate cuts if the economy weakens.

“We’re not on a preset course,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at an afternoon news conference.

Even so, diverging opinions within the members of the Fed’s policymaking committee left some investors feeling uneasy about what the Fed may do next.

“The (Fed) cut rates, as expected, but the quantity and necessity of future rate cuts were called into question,” Sam Stovall, the chief investment strategist at CFRA, wrote in a research note.

The S&P 500 index inched 1.03 points higher, or less than 0.1%, to 3,006.73. The benchmark index is now within 0.7% of its all-time high set in July.

The Dow Jones industrial average rebounded after being down most of the day, adding 36.28 points, or 0.1%, to 27,147.08. The Nasdaq slid 8.62 points, or 0.1%, to 8,177.39.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks bore the brunt of the selling, dropping 9.95 points, or 0.6%, to 1,568.34.

The Fed is trying to combat threats to the U.S. economy, including uncertainties caused by President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war with China, slower global growth and a slump in American manufacturing.

Investors largely expected the Fed to cut short-term interest rates by another quarter of a percentage point, following a similar cut in late July. The rate, now at a range of 1.75% to 2%, influences many consumer and business loans.

A look at how each of the central bank’s policymakers voted offered few clues as to the likelihood of further interest rate cuts.

Fed officials approved the rate cut 7-3, with two officials preferring to keep rates unchanged and one arguing for a bigger half-point cut. It was the most Fed dissents in three years. The policy committee also remains split on whether rates should be a quarter point lower, higher or the same as they are now by the end of this year.

The divisions among Fed officials underscore the challenges confronting Powell in guiding the Fed at a time of high uncertainty in the U.S. economy. They also fuel doubts among investors looking for certainty on interest rate policy.

“The Fed didn’t say a lot that was new, but there are some people who were just holding on and hoping against hope that there would be some kind of dovish surprise, and there wasn’t,” said Sameer Samana, the senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

The broader market has been wobbling this week and is so far on track for a slight weekly loss after three consecutive weeks of gains. Those gains came as both sides in the U.S.-China trade war took steps to ease tension before the nations’ planned negotiations in October.

But the volatility has been taking its toll. The S&P 500 is eking modest gains of 2.2% for the quarter with just a few weeks left. That marks a pullback from gains of 3.8% in the second quarter and a notable deceleration from the 13.1% rise during the first quarter.