US Equity Indexes Mixed as Powell Clarifies December Rate Cut Far From Certain

03:54 PM EDT, 10/29/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes traded mixed ahead of the close on Wednesday, giving up gains, as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said an interest rate cut in December is "not a foregone conclusion."

The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3% to 23,903.02 but off session highs in the final leg of trading. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 6,878.57, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3% to 47,610.41, giving up gains from earlier in the session. All three mainstream gauges hit new record highs intraday.

Real estate, consumer staples, financials, and materials declined the most, down more than 1.5% each. Technology and communication services led the gainers.

The Federal Open Market Committee lowered interest rates to a range of 3.75% to 4% on Wednesday, in line with expectations, marking a second consecutive quarter-percentage-point cut. Another cut in December is not guaranteed due to double-sided risks and divergent opinions on the path of monetary policy, Powell said in a press conference after the FOMC meeting.

"In the Committee's discussions at this meeting, there were strongly differing views about how to proceed in December," Powell said. "A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a forgone conclusion. Far from it. Policy is not on a preset course."

Meanwhile, Nvidia (NVDA) reached a record $5 trillion in market capitalization on Wednesday, the highest for any company in the world's history. Shares rose 3%, building on the previous day's momentum amid media reports that President Donald Trump could discuss the firm's Blackwell artificial intelligence chip with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, during the duo's meeting on Thursday.

Nvidia (NVDA) Chief Executive Jensen Huang said Tuesday that orders worth more than $500 billion have been secured for the company's AI chips through the end of 2026.

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