U.S. stocks closed well off earlier highs after a choppy session on Wednesday, as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell chilled expectations the central bank might be poised to cut rates at its September meeting.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 171.71 points, or 0.38%, to 44,461.28, the S&P 500 lost 7.96 points, or 0.12%, to 6,362.90 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 31.38 points, or 0.15%, to 21,129.67.

Market Movers

Nvidia - Nvidia stock gained 2.1% on Wednesday as shareholders look forward to earnings reports from major technology companies. Morgan Stanley analysts are confident the stock has more to gain, raising their target price to $200 from $170 and reiterating an Overweight rating.

Humana - Humana surged 12.4% after the health insurer reported second-quarter adjusted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates and boosted its full-year profit guidance.Humana’smedical-cost ratio—a closely tracked metric that calculates the proportion of revenue from premiums that are spent on medical claims—was 89.7% in the quarter, largely in line with expectations.

Starbucks - Starbucks dropped 0.2%. The coffee chain posted fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings that missed analysts’ estimates but revenue of $9.5 billion that beat expectations of $9.29 billion. Global same-store sales and those in the U.S. declined 2% but CEO Brian Niccol said the company’s turnaround was proceeding “ahead of schedule.”

CyberArk, Palo Alto Networks - CyberArk Software rose 0.2% to $435.19 after the company reached a deal to be acquired by Palo Alto Networks for about $25 billion. Under the deal, CyberArk shareholders will receive $45 in cash and 2.2005 shares of Palo Alto for each CyberArk share they own. CyberArk rose 13% on Tuesday after The Wall Street Journal reported a deal likely would be announced this week. Palo Alto was down 5.6% on Wednesday.

Mondelez - Mondelez posted second-quarter adjusted profit of 73 cents a share, beating analysts’ calls for 68 cents. However, the maker of Oreos said it expects fiscal-year adjusted earnings to decline about 10% on a constant currency basis “due to unprecedented cocoa cost inflation.” Shares were down 6.6%.

LendingClub - LendingClub soared 21.2% on strong second-quarter earnings and revenue and as loan originations grew 32% from a year earlier to $2.4 billion.

SoFi Technologies - SoFi Technologies fell 2.4% after the fintech said itspublic offeringof 71.9 million common shares would be priced at $20.85 a share, for total gross proceeds of about $1.5 billion. The stock ended Tuesday’s session up 6.6% after the company reportedbetter-than-expected second-quarter adjusted earningsand 44% revenue growth, the highest growth rate in more than two years.

Harley-Davidson - Harley-Davidson jumped 13.4%. The motorcycle manufacturer announced it was selling a 9.8% stake in its motorcycle financing arm to investment firms KKR and Pimco. The gains came even after Harley-Davidson posted second-quarter revenue that fell 19% from the same period last year.

Generac - Generac Holdings gained 19.6% after the maker of backup power technology reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its full-year financial guidance.

Peloton Interactive - Shares of Peloton Interactive rose 18.8% to $7.34 after UBS analysts upgraded shares of the connected-fitness company to Buy from Neutral and lifted their price target to $11 from $7.50, in part because of the potential for revenue growth driven by price increases and improving user trends.

Electronic Arts - Electronic Arts rose 5.7% after the videogame company topped analysts’ fiscal first-quarter bookings expectations ahead of a crucial few months for game releases. EA plans to reveal multiplayer gameplay for Battlefield 6 on Thursday, Madden NFL 26 launches on Aug. 14, and the latest version of the developer’s flagship soccer franchise, FC 26, will go live on Sept. 26.

Seagate Technology - Seagate Technology fell 3.5%. The data-storage company posted better-than-expected adjusted earnings and revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter, but shares slipped after Seagate guided for first-quarter revenue of $2.5 billion, plus or minus $150 million, compared with expectations of $2.53 billion.

Teradyne - Teradyne rose 18.9%. The maker of testing equipment for semiconductors and robotics reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of 57 cents a share, better than Wall Street estimates of 54 cents. While revenue fell 11% to $651.8 million, it still topped estimates.

Market News

Fed Leaves Rates Steady Despite Trump Pressure, Gives No Hint of September Cut

The U.S. central bank held interest rates steady on Wednesday and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the decision undercut confidence that borrowing costs would begin to fall in September, possibly stoking the ire of President Donald Trump who has demanded immediate and steep rate relief.

Powell said the Fed is focused on controlling inflation - not on government borrowing or home mortgage costs that Trump wants lowered - and added that the risk of rising price pressures from the administration's trade and other policies remains too high for the central bank to begin loosening its "modestly restrictive" grip on the economy until more information is collected.

While there will be two full months of data before the Fed's September 16-17 meeting, Powell said the central bank was still in the early stages of understanding how Trump's rewrite of import taxes and other policy changes will unfold in terms of inflation, jobs and economic growth.

Trump Says US Will Set 15% Tariff on South Korean Imports Under New Deal

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the U.S. will charge a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea as part of a deal that eases, for now, tension with a top-10 trading partner and key Asian ally.

The arrangement, announced shortly after Trump met with Korean officials at the White House, came during a blizzard of trade policy announcements ahead of a self-imposed August 1 deadline.

That is when Trump has promised higher tariffs will kick in on U.S. imports from a range of countries. Imports from South Korea, a powerhouse exporter of computer chips, cars and steel, faced a 25% rate.