US Equity Indexes Retreat as Fed Rate Cuts Remain in Play After Strong Retail Sales

12:39 PM EDT, 09/16/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes decline following strong retail sales and a surprise increase in industrial production as the Federal Reserve remains on course to resume policy easing.

The Nasdaq Composite traded 0.1% lower at 22,333.4 after touching an all-time high of 22,397.5 earlier in the session. The S&P 500 was down 0.1% to 6,606.7 after scaling a peak of 6,626.99 intraday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2% to 45,784.6.

In economic news, US retail sales rose by 0.6% in August, above the 0.2% increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following the previous month's 0.6% gain.

US industrial production rose by 0.1% in August, in contrast with a 0.1% drop expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following a downwardly revised 0.4% decrease in July.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its policy decision and the Summary of Economic Projections on Wednesday, both of which investors will parse to gauge the extent of easing in the pipeline after an almost certain 25-basis-point cut in September. Markets are pricing a 67% probability that the Federal Open Market Committee will lower interest rates by 75 basis points between September and December, up from 36% a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

The US Senate approved Stephen Miran, one of President Donald Trump's top advisors, to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors late Monday. At the same time, an appeals court left in place a lower court's block of Trump's attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, allowing both to participate at this week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The Senate voted 48-47 to confirm Miran on Monday, according to media reports.

Most US Treasury yields declined, with the 10-year steady at 4.03% but the two-year rate 2.1 basis points lower at 3.51%.

In company news, the top performer on the S&P 500 index was Steel Dynamics (STLD) , with shares up 6% intraday. The steel producer said it expects Q3 earnings to be higher sequentially and annually, buoyed by improved profit from its three operating businesses.

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