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 S&P 500 rose Thursday following a dismal day for the major averages after the Federal Reserve held steady on rates but signaled that a March cut is unlikely.
The broad market index climbed 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 189 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8%.
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 extended losses from Wednesday. The benchmark 10-year Treasury pulled back to a one-month low and was last 11 basis points lower at 3.85%.
Investors also parsed a fresh batch of quarterly earnings. Shares of conglomerate Honeywell sank nearly 4% after fourth-quarter revenue results missed analyst forecasts. Stock in chipmaker Qualcomm pulled back 4% after lower-than-expected revenue guidance overshadowed a first-quarter earnings beat.