Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on January 31, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose Thursday as stocks recover from a dismal day for the major averages after the Federal Reserve held steady on rates but signaled that a March cut is unlikely.
The 30-stock Dow added 306 points, or 0.8%, while the S&P 500 added 1.1%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2%.
Wall Street is coming off a poor session. The Dow fell 317 points, or 0.8%, posting its worst day since December. The S&P 500 slid 1.6% on Wednesday in its worst day since September. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2.2%, its worst session since October.
Those losses come after Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his post-meeting conference discouraged investor hopes for a rate cut as soon as March, sending equities tumbling.
“I think the market has been getting ahead of itself, with pricing in many more rate cuts, because it will be associated with a much weaker economy if they were to cut as many times as the market is currently pricing,” Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” Thursday.
Bond yields slumped further, with the 10-year Treasury pulling back to a one-month low. The benchmark was last 10 basis points lower at 3.87%.
Investors also parsed a fresh batch of quarterly earnings. Shares of conglomerate Honeywell sank 3% after fourth-quarter revenue results missed analyst forecasts. Stock in chipmaker Qualcomm pulled back about 5% after lower-than-expected revenue guidance overshadowed a first-quarter earnings beat.
