Market Highlights

Wall Street’s torrid surge from April’s meltdown is showing signs of exhaustion as stock traders await fresh catalysts amid risks stemming from a labor-market slowdown to sticky inflation. While the S&P 500 has defied September’s gloomy reputation as the worst month for equity returns, the gauge failed to gain traction on Wednesday. The market ebullience saw the index notching almost 30 records in 2025, eclipsing the average year-end analyst forecast and spurring calls for consolidation. US equity-index futures steadied after signs of fatigue in the AI-driven rally caused two days of declines on Wall Street

Wall Street traders drove stocks down from all-time highs, with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offering no hints on whether he might support a rate cut at the central bank’s October meeting. Bonds held gains. Following a series of records, equities took a breather amid a slide in big tech. Powell said the outlooks for the labor market and inflation face risks, reiterating his view that policymakers likely have a difficult road ahead as they weigh further interest-rate cuts. US stocks are set to resume their rally as the combination of a pledge for more spending by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and an upbeat forecast from Micron Technology Inc. reinforced optimism over artificial intelligence.

Wall Street traders defied calls for a breather after a $15 trillion stock rally from April lows, with Nvidia Corp. boosting optimism on artificial intelligence after pledging to invest as much as $100 billion in OpenAI. Tech led gains in the S&P 500, with the US equity benchmark hitting its 28th record this year. The world’s largest chipmaker rallied about 4%. Its investment is intended to help OpenAI build data centers with a capacity of 10 gigawatts of power using Nvidia’s advanced AI chips to train and deploy OpenAI’s models. Asian equities came off session highs, swinging between modest gains and losses after benchmarks in Hong Kong and mainland China retreated.

Wall Street closed out the highly anticipated Federal Reserve week with stocks notching fresh all- time highs as prospects for more rate cuts bolstered the outlook for corporate earnings. While calls for a temporary breather have emerged after an almost $15 trillion rally in the S&P 500 from its April lows, bullish sentiment has prevailed. That was after Fed officials resumed monetary policy easing at a time when the economy is still growing, sending a constructive signal for risk takers. Asian shares rose following a Wall Street rally, with Japanese equities advancing after concerns about the Bank of Japan’s plan to offload its massive exchange-traded fund holdings eased.

Wall Street’s bets that Federal Reserve rate cuts will keep powering Corporate America drove stocks to all-time highs, with traders piling into the riskier corners of the market. A day after the Fed deployed its firstreduction this year and signaled the potential for more saw a rally that lifted the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Russell 2000 to records. It’s the firsttime since November 2021 that all four major benchmarks closed together at fresh highs. And it’s a rare feat too, occurring on just 25 other days this century. A record-breaking global stock rally hit a speed bump after the Bank of Japan’s decision to begin selling its massive exchange-traded fund holdings dragged Asian shares lower.

Wall Street emerged largely unshaken from a high-stakes Federal Reserve meeting, as policymakers delivered a well-telegraphed rate cut that elicited muted moves across markets. The announcement was followed by Jerome Powell’s remarks, underscoring the tension between the Fed’s two mandates that suggested “there’s no risk-free path” ahead. After briefly rising, the S&P 500 fell by a mere 0.1%, weighed down by tech. Bonds saw small losses. It was the seventh straight time the dollar rose on a Fed day, the longest such winning streak since 2001. The reaction reflected a central bank striking a temperate posture — acknowledging cooling in the labor market and signaling it will remain data-dependent amid price risks.

Wall Street traders gearing up for the Federal Reserve decision refrained from making big bets as they awaited clues on the path of rates that will shape the outlook for markets over the next few months. A solid reading on retail sales did little to move trading, with a rally in equities fading near a record and bonds edging higher. Asian stocks swung between small gains and losses ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision with investors speculating the central bank will cut interest rates for the firsttime this year.

Wall Street notched fresh highs amid bets that a Federal Reserve rate cut Wednesday is a sure thing, with traders waiting to see whether officials will validate expectations for a series of reductions into next year. A $14 trillion record-breaking run in US equities is heading for an inflection point, with the firstrate cut since Donald Trump became president likely to seize the spotlight in a week that will determine policy settings for half of the world’s 10 most-traded currencies. Stocks climbed to fresh all-time highs, with traders set for a finalread on the American consumer a day before the Federal Reserve’s widely expected firstinterest-rate cut of the year.

Companies are moving some of the excess cash on their books into longer-term securities, betting that rate cuts from the Federal Reserve will make these holdings more lucrative. Firms this year have cut allocations to cash and other liquid investments, such as money market funds, to just 27% of holdings through the end of August, on average down about 13 percentage points compared with the end of 2022 after the Fed started hiking rates, according to investment software firmClearwater Analytics. At the same time, corporate allocations to US Treasury debt maturing in more than 90 days are higher than at any point since 2018. Companies also boosted the share of corporate bond holdings in their portfolios to a three-year high, according to the Clearwater data, which covers $1.6 trillion in holdings from around 800 firms,most of them US-based.

Stocks hit all-time highs on hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to curb a jobs downturn, with traders gearing up for inflation data that will test the market’s conviction. While most shares in the S&P 500 fell, the gauge rose amid gains in all big techs but Apple Inc. - which sank 1.5% after introducing its iPhone 17, including an already expected skinnier model. In late hours, Oracle Corp. surged after posting a huge jump in bookings. A slide in bonds halted a four- day rally. Oil climbed after an Israeli attack in Qatar revived fears of an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. US stocks are set to notch fresh highs as traders bet that a pair of inflation reports won’t derail expectations for the Federal Reserve to resume cutting interest rates.