Stocks closed broadly higher Wednesday on Wall Street, sending the S&P 500 to a record high for the second time this week, as investors welcomed the Federal Reserve's decision to lower interest rates for the third time this year.
The central bank also indicated that it won't cut rates again in the coming months unless the economic outlook worsens.
The S&P 500 index rose 9.88 points, or 0.3%, to 3,046.77. The benchmark index also hit record high on Monday.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 115.27, or 0.4%, to 27,186.69. The Nasdaq composite added 27.12 points, or 0.3%, to 8,303.98.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks fell 4.23 points, or 0.3%, to 1,572.85.
Major stock indexes in Europe closed mostly higher.
Stocks wobbled shortly after the Fed's midafternoon announcement, which had been widely anticipated by traders. The market then rallied into the close, led by gains in technology and health care stocks. Bond yields fell.
"The rate cut was expected and also the market had been expecting a change in the language regarding another rate cut this year," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. "The Fed just basically upped the bar for another rate cut by suggesting that the economy is in a good place.
U.S. stock indexes were mostly flat ahead of the Fed's announcement Wednesday.
The central bank's latest move reduces the short-term rate it controls -- which influences many consumer and business loan rates -- to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%.
On Wednesday, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy slowed to a modest growth rate of 1.9% in the July-September quarter. That surpassed economists' forecasts for even weaker growth, however.
Technology and health care companies drove much of the market's broad gains Wednesday. Microsoft rose 1.3%, while Johnson & Johnson climbed 2.9%.
Those sectors helped offset losses in energy and financial stocks.
Energy stocks took the heaviest losses. Chevron slid 1.5% and Helmerich & Payne fell 4.3%. The sector dropped 2.1%, lowering its gains for the year to just 1.1%. That's the smallest gain of all the sectors in the S&P 500.
Several big banks helped pull financial sector stocks lower as bond yields declined. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.77% from 1.83% late Tuesday. The yield is a benchmark for interest rates that banks charge for mortgages and other loans. JPMorgan dropped 0.6% and Bank of America slid 1.4%.
Apple, Facebook and Lyft climbed in after-hours trading after reporting quarterly results that topped Wall Street's forecasts. Twitter slumped after the social media company announced that it is banning political ads from its service. CEO Jack Dorsey said advertising on social media offers an unfair level of targeting compared with other mediums that brings significant risks to politics.
Mattel surged 13.8% after the toy maker breezed past Wall Street's third-quarter profit forecasts on strong sales of its Barbie and Hot Wheels brands. The company also put investors at ease when it said that it hasn't seen any impact from tariff increases on toys imported from China ahead of the Dec. 15 deadline.
General Electric jumped 11.5% after the industrial conglomerate raised its projections for a key measure of profitability despite a damaging trade fight and ongoing problems with Boeing's 737 Max, for which GE helps make engines.
Information for this article was contributed by Damian J. Troise of The Associated Press.
Business on 10/31/2019