Small-cap and blue-chip stocks advanced in Wednesday morning trading on Wall Street, while technology names lagged and the S&P 500 hovered near record levels as investors braced for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy move at 2:00 p.m. ET, with markets fully pricing in a 25-basis-point cut that would lower the federal funds rate to a 4.00%-4.25% range. Alongside the decision, the Fed will release fresh quarterly projections outlining policymakers’ views on growth, inflation, the labor market, and the likely path of rates.
At 6,600, the S&P 500 remained steady near all-time highs. Yet history offers a cautionary note: over the past 25 years, the index has typically dipped modestly in the 30 days following a rate cut, …