Stock market today shares: US stock market Wednesday: S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq end higher, Ford, Walmart stocks gain

S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq — all three major US stock indexes closed modestly higher. The S&P 500 gained 22.54 points, or 0.40 per cent, to end at 5,619.66 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 101.27 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 17,918.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 58.99 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 40,893.96.

Wall Street on Wednesday witnessed range-bound trading after investors parsed a steep downward revision in payrolls, and the release of the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve, which cemented expectations for a September rate cut.

Top Performing Stocks

Among individual companies, Ford climbed 1.6 percent despite announcing $1.9 billion in costs connected to shifts in its electric vehicle strategy. The automaker scuttled plans for one new EV model and pushed back the timeframe on a second vehicle in light of a slower-than-expected transition to EVs in North America.

Walmart rose 0.9 percent.

JD.com, the Chinese online retail company, fell 4.2 percent after disclosing that Walmart divested its shares in the company.

Fed Minutes

The Fed released minutes from its most recent monetary policy meeting in July, at which members of the Federal Open Market Committee elected to keep the key interest rate unchanged. The July meeting occurred before the disappointing employment report for that month and a host of economic reports pointing to cooling inflation and a softening but resilient economy.

Even so, the minutes suggest Fed officials were already strongly leaning toward a rate cut at the meeting scheduled for September. They also set the stage for the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium to convene on Thursday, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak on Friday.

FAQs

Q1. Who is Fed Chair?
A1. Fed Chair is Jerome Powell.

Q2. What are three main US indexes?
A2. S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq are three main US indexes.