Stocks closed strong Tuesday with the major indexes all racking up gains amid the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Magnificent Seven stock Nvidia (NVDA) advanced again, but Super Micro Computer (SMCI) was having another painful session as a new S&P 500 component on the stock market today. Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT) announced two key hires.
Stocks improved in final afternoon action with the Dow Jones the clear leader, gaining 0.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq finished 0.4% higher after morning losses. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 increased its gain to 0.6% and the small-cap Russell 2000 popped 0.5%.
Volume rose modestly on the New York Stock Exchange and fell on the Nasdaq compared with the same time on Monday, in preliminary numbers.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) edged up nearly 0.3%. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) pared larger losses and closed down 0.8%.
The 10-year Treasury yield shed 4 basis points to just under 4.3%. And West Texas intermediate crude oil bumped up to $83.18 a barrel.
Bitcoin’s price fell to just above $64,500, taking bitcoin-related stocks down with it. MicroStrategy (MSTR), which owns a large amount of bitcoin, plunged 5.7% on the stock market today, adding to Monday’s 15.7% drop.
Coinbase (COIN) skidded 4% while Marathon Digital (MARA) trimmed losses to under 1%. Riot Platforms (RIOT) lost 3%.
Investors are waiting for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s policy speech on Wednesday afternoon to see when interest rate cuts might start. There are different views on the timing and amount of rate cuts in the future as inflation hangs on and the job market remains robust.
Microsoft (MSFT) added 1% on news it hired artificial intelligence expert Mustafa Suleyman as chief executive of its new division called Microsoft AI. It’s also adding Karen Simonyan from the same startup as Suleyman, Inflection AI, of which Microsoft is an investor. The new company will oversee Microsoft’s Copilot and its other AI software. Microsoft shares are extended from a flat base with a 384.30 buy point.
Apple (AAPL) added 1.4% on top of Monday’s 0.6% uptick. The iPhone maker was reportedly in talks with Alphabet (GOOGL) to incorporate Alphabet’s “Gemini” AI model in Apple’s iPhones. Alphabet (GOOGL) fell marginally after Monday’s 4.6% jump in heavy volume.
