NEW YORK (AP) — Most U.S. stocks slipped on Wednesday after doubts rose on Wall Street about whether the Federal Reserve will deliver economy-juicing cuts to interest rates by September.
The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1%, coming off its first loss after setting all-time highs for six successive days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 171 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.
Stocks felt pressure from rising Treasury yields in the bond market after the Federal Reserve voted to hold its main interest rate steady. The move may upset President Donald Trump, who has been angrily lobbying for lower interest rates, but it was widely expected on Wall Street.
What may have surprised investors more was Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s pushing back on expectations that the Fed could cut rates at its next meeting in September. Besides Trump, two members of the Fed’s committee have also been calling for lower rates to ease the pressure on the economy, and they dissented in Wednesday’s vote.
But Powell would not commit to a September cut in rates, pointing to how inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target, while the job market still looks to be “in balance.”
A cut in rates would give the job market and overall economy a boost, but it could also risk fueling inflation when Trump’s tariffs may be set to raise prices for U.S. consumers. The Fed’s job is to keep both the job market and inflation in a good place.
Trump on Wednesday announced a 25% tariff on imports coming from India, along with an additional tax because of India’s purchases of Russian oil, beginning on Aug. 1. That’s when stiff tariffs Trump has proposed for many other countries are also scheduled to kick in, unless they reach trade deals that lower the rates.
“The economy is in good shape, but it’s in an unusual situation,” Powell said.
He also said that the Fed will receive two months’ worth of data on inflation, the job market and other economic indicators before it meets again to vote on rates in September. That could give the Fed more confidence that the risk of high inflation is no longer bigger than the risk of a weak job market, a combination that would prod officials toward lowering rates.
Powell’s comments drove traders to pare back bets on a cut in September. They now see just a 45% chance of that, down from a nearly 65% probability a day earlier, according to data from CME Group.
The yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 3.93% from 3.86% late Tuesday. It tends to closely follow expectations for what the Fed will do with its overnight interest rate.