US stocks pared losses to end mixed on Thursday after Fed officials cooled some rate hike concerns. The Fed’s Christopher Waller and Jame Bullard backed a 75-basis-point hike, in line with June’s increase. Earlier in the day, Fed funds futures were showing traders pricing in an 83% chance of a 100-basis-point rise this month. Loading Something is loading.
US stocks recovered from their steepest losses of the session to end mixed Thursday after officials from the Federal Reserve soothed some fears that an even bigger rate hike could be on the way this month.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard both said a 75-basis-point increase in the federal funds rate would be appropriate even after this week’s big inflation reading. That would be in line with the rate hike in June, and lower than the 100 basis points that markets were expecting earlier in the day.
Before Bullard and Waller spoke, Fed fund futures were showing traders pricing in an 83% chance of a 100-basis-point rate hike.
Earlier in the day, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan kicked off big bank earnings season. Both firms missed estimates, and JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon warned that the global economy is in a fragile state.
Here’s where US indexes stood after the 4 p.m closing bell on Thursday:
S&P 500: 3,790.37, down 0.30%Dow Jones Industrial Average: 30,630.17, down 0.46% (142.62 points)Nasdaq Composite: 11,251.19, up 0.03% Bank of America lowered its S&P 500 price target to the lowest on Wall Street Thursday, telling investors to expect the benchmark index to close the year at 3600. It is now also predicting a mild recession to last through the first quarter of 2023.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a press conference that a price cap on Russian oil would be a powerful tool in bringing down inflation. Meanwhile, Russian crude oil has recently landed in Cuba, and Russian officials are mulling the creation of a national oil benchmark that would exist alongside West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude.
Cannabis stocks soared after a report from Bloomberg said Senate Democrats are planning to introduce a bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. Shares of Tilray, Aurora, and Canopy Growth all popped on the news.
Oil prices were up after falling as much as 5% on growing recession fears. WTI inched up 0.5% to $96.30 a barrel. Brent, oil’s international benchmark, was up 0.13%, trading at $99.70 a barrel.
Gold fell 1.5% to $1,708.70 per ounce. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 4 basis points to 2.947%
Bitcoin climbed 5%, trading around $20,700.
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