The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% at midday Wednesday, but other indexes climbed ahead of the Fed's rate decision and Chairman Jerome Powell's comments this afternoon. The Dow is pulling back after six straight winning sessions.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% while the Nasdaq gained 0.4% at 12 p.m. ET. Both are aiming for five-day win streaks. Volume on the NYSE and the Nasdaq fell compared with the same time on Tuesday.
The small-cap Russell 2000 slipped after Tuesday's hefty gains. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF fell 0.8%.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 6 basis points to 3.77%.
Crude oil fell slightly to $69.34 a barrel. U.S. crude inventories rose by 7.919 million barrels to 467.124 million barrels in the latest weekly data, the Energy Department reported.
The producer price index fell 0.3% for the month while wholesale inflation for the year of 1.1% was also lower than expected.
Today, the Fed is widely expected to announce a decision to leave interest rates unchanged after hiking them by 500 basis points since March of last year. The CME FedWatch Tool noted an overwhelming 98.8% chance of interest rates remaining unchanged today.
On Tuesday, cool consumer inflation data spurred the likelihood of what many on Wall Street are calling a "hawkish pause."
MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor sees bitcoin as the last coin standing after the SEC shakes out altcoins in its probe into Binance and Coinbase. MicroStrategy owns 140,000 bitcoins, per the latest report.
Stocks Moving Today
Outside the Dow Jones, Tesla initially rose, then reversed in light volume at midday. The stock's record 13-day win streak may be in danger of ending. The company modestly raised the price of its Model Y.
Google parent Alphabet pared losses and was nearly flat. The European Commission raised antitrust concerns that Google is "present at almost all levels of the so-called adtech supply chain" and is a threat to competitors, publishers and advertisers.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices rose on news that Amazon.com will use AMD's newest AI chip for its cloud platform. AMD introduced the chip on Tuesday.
Meta Platforms rose 0.5% after Piper Sandler analysts raised the price target to 310 from 270 and maintained an overweight rating. The research firm says that continuing AI investments and the new product launch, Reels, are increasing time spent on the social media website, improving advertisers' tools and creating an open ecosystem. Meta is on IBD Leaderboard.
Shockwave Medical, on the IBD 50, broke out of a cup with handle at 308.09, according to IBD MarketSmith. But shares dipped below the buy point at midday.
Oracle is on track for a five-day winning streak after Goldman Sachs gave the cloud infrastructure leader a new price target of 120 and upgraded its rating to neutral from sell. The stock rose 0.5% and is set for an all-time closing high.
Steris is breaking out at 212.81 from a cup with handle. But volume is weak, running about 25% below average.
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Dow Jones Stocks In Focus
Cisco Systems broke out of a cup with handle at 50.58 on Tuesday. The stock is adding to gains on Wednesday and is in a buy zone to 53.11. Intel is also in a buy zone after a breakout at 33.84 in a cup base.
UnitedHealth gapped down on rising medical-cost ratios — a key metric for profitability. Medical-cost ratios measure medical expenses paid by insurance companies vs. premiums collected. UNH stock has undercut its base and fallen below its 50-day line in strong volume — both sell signals.
Other managed-care stocks sold off. Humana gapped below its 200-day moving average. CVS Health, which owns Aetna health insurance, also fell.
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