Federal Reserve keeps rates unchanged, points to ‘modest further progress’ on inflation: Live updates

Stocks were higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, as expected, with investors looking for clues on when the central bank will begin cutting rates.

The S&P 500 jumped 1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite popped about 2.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 223 points, or 0.5%.

The central bank has been holding its benchmark funds rate in a range between 5.25% and 5.5%. Chair Jerome Powell will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. ET, where he will be asked about the path forward for U.S. monetary policy.

“The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals continue to move into better balance,” the Federal Open Market Committee’s said in its post-meeting statement. “In recent months, there has been some further progress toward the Committee’s 2 percent inflation objective.”

Jobs data released earlier Wednesday also hinted at a slowing economy and supported central bankers’ efforts to reduce inflation. Private job growth slowed further in July as the pace of wage gains dropped to a three-year low, according to the latest ADP report.

Mega cap tech names made a comeback during Wednesday’s trading session. Nvidia shares gained about 11%, clawing back some of this month’s losses, as better-than-expected results from rival Advanced Micro Devices stoked optimism in the semiconductor space. Other tech stocks such as Apple, Meta Platforms and Amazon were also higher. Microsoft, however, pulled back 1% on disappointing quarterly cloud revenue.

Boeing added more than 4.5% after announcing a new CEO. The aerospace company also reported a wider-than-expected loss and disappointing revenue for the second quarter. Humana, meanwhile, slid about 9% after posting weak guidance.

Carvana and Qualcomm are among the names set to report after the close.