Wall Street Traders on Hold as Powell Set to Speak: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders left stocks hovering near all-time highs as bonds halted a four-day slide ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s first public remarks since officials cut rates last week.

Action was muted across markets, with traders parsing a host of comments from other Fed speakers. Policymakers have been debating how much further to lower borrowing costs after delivering the first reduction since December.

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Following a series of records that sent the S&P 500 near 6,700, the US equity benchmark barely budged. Treasury 10-year yields declined one basis points to 4.14%. The dollar wavered. The crypto world stabilized after a rout. Gold held its record.

Powell pointed to growing signs of weakness in the labor market to explain why officials decided it was time to cut rates last week. Policymakers are penciling in two more quarter-point cuts this year, according to the median of their projections published after the meeting.

“Fedspeak this week will highlight the wide dispersion of views on the Committee,” said Oscar Munoz at TD Securities. “We do not expect Powell to change his tone from his FOMC press conference.”

Powell is due to speak at 12:35 p.m. New York time.

Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said officials need to act decisively to bring down rates as the labor market weakens. Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee told CNBC the US central bank should be cautious given inflation is on an upward trajectory.

In economic news, US business activity expanded in September at the slowest pace in three months, while cooler demand limited the ability of companies to raise prices and offset tariffs.

“We’ll hear from Fed Chair Powell as well today, but given there haven’t been material data developments since last week’s press conference, our US economists expect his tone to align closely with his remarks last week,” said strategists including Jim Reid at Deustche Bank.

Looking ahead at the outlook for additional rate moves, Powell was cautious last week, saying the Fed was now in a “meeting-by-meeting situation.”

“Chair Powell’s appearance this afternoon is unlikely to provide much new information since last week’s press conference,” said Will Compernolle at FHN Financial.

Compernolle said Tuesday’s $69 billion sale of two-year notes will test the durability of the recent selling pressure in the belly of the curve.

“Our baseline is for the auction to show strong demand and for intermediate yields to pick up some downward momentum,” he said.

That’s the first in a trio of autions this week that also include offerings of $70 billion 5-year notes Wednesday and $44 billion 7-year notes Thursday.

Prospects of further rate cuts, surprisingly strong profit growth and enthusiasm for Big Tech companies that are capitalizing on artificial intelligence have all kept equities near their all-time highs.

The record-setting advance has pushed the S&P 500 nearly 3% above the average year-end forecast among those tracked by Bloomberg, which currently stands at 6,486. Only in 2024 and 1999 have the calls lagged the market’s actual return so much around this time of the year.

“While current tech valuations are high, we believe the long-term potential for AI to drive performance remains strong,” said Mark Haefele at UBS Global Wealth Management. We maintain a balanced positioning across semiconductors, software, and internet industries, and view any market dips as compelling entry points for long-term investors.”

Meantime, a burst of activity is powering the US IPO market toward its busiest month since the final innings of a manic 2021.

Klarna Group Plc and Netskope Inc.’s successful outings led the charge, lifting September’s US initial public offerings volume so far to $7.6 billion, excluding financial vehicles such as blank-check firms. Newly-public companies delivered a weighted-average return of 17%.

Corporate Highlights:

Micron Technology Inc.’s earnings after the bell Tuesday will shed light on whether the chipmaker’s high-flying stock has gotten ahead of itself after a nearly 40% gain in September. Nvidia Corp. assured customers that its landmark deal with OpenAI to invest $100 billion and expand AI infrastructure together won’t affect the chipmaker’s relationship with other clients. ASM International NV cut its sales outlook for the second half of the year, citing lower-than-anticipated demand from some of the semiconductor equipment maker’s clients. Boeing Co. and Uzbekistan Airways unveiled a deal for as many as 22 of the US planemaker’s 787 Dreamliner jets, the largest-ever order in the airline’s history. The Trump administration linked Tylenol to autism and urged pregnant women to avoid the common pain medication despite the lack of widely accepted scientific evidence supporting the risk. Johnson & Johnson is withdrawing a device to treat debilitating acid reflux disease from markets outside the US, a move surgeons warned would set back the available treatment options for sufferers by more than a decade and also impact lung transplant patients. Firefly Aerospace Inc. reported second-quarter revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, as the small-rocket launcher works to ramp up the frequency of its flights and win new contracts. AutoZone Inc. reported comparable sales for the fourth quarter that beat the average analyst estimate. L’Oréal SA, named by Giorgio Armani as a potential investor in the late Italian fashion mogul’s eponymous business, would only be interested in its profitable beauty arm, according to a person familiar with the matter. Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc extended its production shutdown yet again as the cyberattack that’s crippled the carmaker persists. Huawei Technologies Co. openly admits its silicon can’t match Nvidia’s in raw power and speed. So to pack the same punch, China’s national champion is counting on its traditional strengths: brute force, networking, and policy support. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The S&P 500 was little changed as of 10 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7% The MSCI World Index rose 0.1% Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 0.7% The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.8% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1788 The British pound was little changed at $1.3511 The Japanese yen was little changed at 147.85 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin was little changed at $112,919.36 Ether rose 0.2% to $4,194.13 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.14% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.75% Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.68% The yield on 2-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.60% The yield on 30-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.75% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4% to $63.16 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.9% to $3,779.60 an ounce ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.