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The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 480 points and stocks rallied Wednesday after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell signaled lower rate hikes are likely starting next month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 737.24 points, or 2.18%, to close at 34,589.77. The S&P 500 rose 122.48 points, or 3.09%, to close at 4,080.41, and the Nasdaq rose 484.22 points, or 4.41%, to close at 11,468.00.
Powell indicated the federal bank would increase rates 0.5% at its meeting next month after hiking rates 0.75% three consecutive times in the last three monthly meetings.
“It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down,” Powell said in a speech at the Brookings Institution. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting.”
The Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates seven times this year in an effort to bring inflation under control. The increases have raised worries about a looming recession.
Some stocks that rose Wednesday included Alphabet (GOOG), which closed at $101.45, up $6.01, or 6.30%. Apple‘s (AAPL) price of shares rose $6.86, or 4.86%, to close at $148.03.
“They’ve caught up. They’re in a decent place,” Hani Redha, portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments, told the Wall Street Journal about the Fed’s efforts to tame inflation through rate hikes. “Operation catch-up is what this year has been all about and I think it’s over.”
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