The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% at the closing bell on Wednesday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated the possibility of consecutive interest rate hikes this year.
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Earlier on Wednesday at the European Central Bank Forum in Portugal, Powell spoke of raising rates again. The Fed chair’s observation comes on the heels of strong economic data on Tuesday that showed consumer confidence surging to its highest level since January 2022. The odds of a rate hike in July rose to 81.8% according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Two 25-basis-point hikes would take the target rate to 5.5%-5.75%.
Retail and wholesale inventories rose in May. Auto inventories spiked and may support cooling inflation in the second half of the year and in 2024. Powell, however, indicated back-to-back rate hikes may be needed.
The S&P 500 rose from session lows and ended unchanged at 4 p.m. ET, but the tech-dominated Nasdaq bucked the trend and gained 0.3% Wednesday.
Volume was higher on the NYSE but lower on the Nasdaq, compared with the same time on Tuesday.
The small-cap Russell 2000 gained 0.5%. The Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) ETD outperformed with a gain of 2%.
Crude oil jumped nearly 3% to trade at $69.70 a barrel as crude inventories dropped for the week ended June 23. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, inventories were 1% lower than the five-year average for this time of the year.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped 5 basis points to 3.71%.
Stocks Moving Today
Outside the Dow Jones industrials, leisure and travel stocks rose. Carnival (CCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) surged for the second day. CCL plunged after earnings on Monday, but has rocketed to a 52-week high after a test of the 21-day moving average.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) fell over 1% in early trading after news of a possible ban on the shipping of AI chips to China, but ended just 0.2% lower.
Shares of IBD Leaderboard stock Tesla (TSLA) rose ahead of second-quarter deliveries due this weekend.
HubSpot (HUBS), Wednesday’s Stock Of the Day, rose above its 21-day moving average.
Generac (GNRC), also in the IBD Leaderboard, rose after the generator maker broke out on Tuesday. Shares are in a buy zone, according to IBD MarketSmith.
General Mills (GIS) dropped 5% on a weak outlook. Shares, which were trading below the 50-day line, undercut their base on Wednesday.
AeroVironment (AVAV) gapped higher in strong volume after the U.S. defense contractor announced strong Q4 results.
Shares of Pinterest (PINS) leapt 6% after Wells Fargo analysts upgraded their rating to overweight from equal weight with a price target of 34, up from 23. The stock offers an entry at 29.27.
Dow Jones Stocks
Dow Jones tech leader Apple (AAPL) rose on Wednesday as it approaches a $3 trillion market capitalization. Shares of the iPhone maker are just a shade below the 190.73 needed to reach that milestone, based on the number of shares outstanding.
Nike (NKE), in the Dow Jones industrials, tested support at the 200-day line with earnings due on Thursday.
Please follow VRamakrishnan on Twitter for more news on the stock market today.
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