US close: Stocks jump on dovish signals from Powell
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Wednesday 19 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - Dovish signals from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell pushed US stocks higher in afternoon trade, with the S&P 500 rising to its highest in nearly two weeks.
"The Fed meeting delivered a dovish surprise that has been welcomed by stock market bulls," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
The Dow gained 0.9%, the Nasdaq jumped 1.4% while the S&P 500 rose 1.1% to finish at 5,675.29 - its highest close since 7 March. Markets have been volatile over recent weeks on fears that Donald Trump's trade policies could weaken economic growth prospects and stoke inflation.
As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee left interest rates unchanged at its meeting on Wednesday. But while the Fed's macroeconomic projections were for slower growth and higher inflation due to the Trump administration's tariff policies, Powell said his base case was that the resulting upwards pressure on prices would be "transitory".
Furthermore, despite the increased economic uncertainty, the 'dot plot' graph showed policymakers continued to expect two more interest-rate cuts over the course of 2025 - matching projections made in December.
"Either the Fed thinks that tariffs will be short-lived, or they think that tariffs will be transitory, and president Trump could roll back on tariffs in the coming months," Brooks said. "Powell said that the FOMC is at the place where they can 'cut or we can hold', crucially the Fed chair did not say that they could also hike rates. This is another dovish signal from this meeting."
In other news, US mortgage applications pulled back 6.2% last week after 11.2% jump in the first week of March and a 20.4% surge in the last week of February, as 30-year mortgage rates rose for the first time in more than two months.
The dollar was rebounding slightly today after hitting a five-month low on Tuesday in anticipation of the Fed meeting. The US dollar index was up 0.2% at 103.48 by the end of play.
Market movers
Autodesk was rising on reports that major shareholder and activist investor Starboard is considering a proxy battle to nominate a candidate to the board.
Tesla shares were also higher following a TV interview with chief executive Elon Musk, in which he defended his reputation amid an ongoing backlash to his political leanings.
Cheerios-owner General Mills fell after cutting its full-year outlook due to waning demand for snacks in the US and mounting economic uncertainty. Having previously forecast growth in the range of flat to 1%, the Minneapolis-based business now expects sales to fall between 2% and 1.5%.
Travel stocks were putting in a decent performance, with Expedia, American Airlines, Marriott, Booking Holdings, Delta, Norwegian, Carnival and Royal Caribbean all among the best performers of the day.
Dow Jones - Risers
Boeing Co. (BA) $172.62 6.84%
American Express Co. (AXP) $270.71 3.02%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $252.59 2.16%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $164.05 2.01%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $239.23 1.76%
Visa Inc. (V) $339.89 1.52%
3M Co. (MMM) $153.26 1.52%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $61.12 1.36%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $215.24 1.20%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $387.82 1.12%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.12 -6.94%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $37.22 -1.12%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $315.75 -0.91%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $163.01 -0.77%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $94.02 -0.74%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.94 -0.66%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $72.93 -0.44%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.28 -0.14%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $503.21 -0.12%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $11.16 -0.09%
S&P 500 - Risers
Boeing Co. (BA) $172.62 6.84%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $215.12 5.77%
Amphenol Corp. (APH) $67.55 5.58%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $21.05 4.62%
Gap Inc. (GAP) $20.19 4.61%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $8.71 4.56%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $172.48 4.43%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $74.43 4.33%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $19.84 4.04%
Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $47.79 3.99%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.12 -6.94%
Progressive Corp. (PGR) $273.14 -3.53%
Waters Corp. (WAT) $371.51 -2.83%
Sysco Corp. (SYY) $72.37 -2.65%
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $168.01 -2.57%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $107.51 -2.47%
Revvity, Inc. (RVTY) $109.84 -2.46%
Celanese Corp. (CE) $57.28 -2.26%
Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $36.91 -2.12%
General Mills Inc. (GIS) $59.24 -2.05%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $235.86 4.68%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $172.48 4.43%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.48 3.70%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $195.57 3.66%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $268.30 3.21%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $959.49 3.17%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,065.94 3.15%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $247.62 3.01%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $67.20 3.00%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $4,591.89 2.69%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.12 -6.94%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $98.24 -4.17%
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.19 -3.47%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $107.51 -2.47%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $29.89 -1.65%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $70.84 -1.61%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $70.05 -1.17%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $141.43 -1.16%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $64.30 -1.05%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $64.00 -1.01%
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