NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is stuck on pause Wednesday as it waits to hear from the Federal Reserve in the afternoon, when it’s expected to deliver the first cut to interest rates of the year.
The S&P 500 edged down by 0.3% and was drifting near its record set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 217 points, or 0.5%, as of 12:48 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.
Anticipation has been building for months about this afternoon's announcement by the Fed. The decision itself will likely be an afterthought because traders and economists already widely expect the Fed to cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point.
What’s more important will be what Fed officials say about the probability of more cuts. The unanimous expectation is that they will keep lowering rates through this year and into next in order to prop up the slowing job market.
Reports are showing that it’s become more difficult for people to find a job, which could be forcing the Fed to see it as the bigger problem for the economy than the threat of higher inflation.
The Fed has been keeping rates on hold so far this year because lower rates can push inflation higher, and it’s been worried about how much President Donald Trump’s tariffs will raise prices for all kinds of products. Inflation has so far refused to go back below the Fed’s 2% target.
Stocks have run to records on expectations for easier interest rates. That in turn raises the possibility of disappointment for Wall Street if Fed Chair Jerome Powell hints at fewer cuts coming than everyone expects. Fed officials will also be releasing their projections for where they see interest rates and inflation heading in upcoming years.
On Wall Street, Workday helped lead the market with a gain of 7.5% after Elliott Investment Management said it’s built a stake of more than $2 billion in it and supports its management. The company, which helps customers manage their finances and human resources, recently increased its program to send cash to investors through purchases of its stock by up to $4 billion.
Lyft drove 14.3% higher after saying it will bring autonomous ride-hailing service to Nashville with Waymo.
On the losing end of Wall Street was General Mills, which fell 0.5%. The food giant reported a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but its revenue only roughly matched forecasts. It also said it expects investments it’s making in brands to drive growth, such as Blue Buffalo’s launch into fresh pet food, to knock its profit lower in its upcoming fiscal year.
RCI Hospitality Holdings dropped 11.5% after New York’s attorney general accused executives of bribery and other crimes for trying to avoid paying millions of dollars in sales taxes. RCI owns strip clubs and sports bars across the country, including Rick’s Cabaret.
Online ticket marketplace StubHub wavered between small gains and losses shortly after it started trading on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time. The stock is trading under the symbol “STUB” and priced its initial public offering at $23.50 per share.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% from its record after data showed Japan’s exports to the U.S. dropped 13.8% in August from a year earlier, as auto exports were hit by Trump’s tariffs.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.05% from 4.04% late Tuesday.
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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.