For those expecting a retreat from yet another interest rate hike, you may have to wait another few days. For the first time in quite some time, Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Jerome Powell displayed a more “dovish” than “hawkish” tone during his post meeting announcement statements.
It was hardly a straight up affair. Heading into the final hour, the bears were winning the post-announcement tug of war, but the bulls seized on the dovish comments in a big way. Once the index surpassed the premarket high/former high close for the move, the pace of the rally accelerated.
In less than one hour, the index ripped through the 4100 handle, but came up shy of its December 13 high (4180), only reaching 4163.25 and retreated into the close. For the session, the index added 42.25 handles with a closing price of 4132.25. Buyers were still lurking in the after-hours as the last after-hour print was over 10 handles higher at 4142.50.
A major rally in shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) off its okay report propelled Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) to be the biggest gainer of the top components of the index. For the session, the leaped $14.06 or 7.2% to close at $209.43.
That was nearly six times better than the cash index’s advance of 1.03%.
On a risk-on day, a value stock like UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE; UNH) was the biggest loser of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue declined by $2.19 or 0.44% to close $497.
PreMarket Prep Preview: Fed Rate Hike
WisdomTree’s Schwartz, Wharton School’s Siegel Will Tackle The Fed’s Rate Hike Thursday. Read more here.
