MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks ended higher after the Federal Reserve cuts rates for a third consecutive meeting, but may now move to the sidelines with questions over whether inflation or the job market should be their bigger worry. Fed Chair Powell's remarks prompted investors to buy Treasurys, pushing yields lower. The dollar fell on Powell's remarks. Silver futures hit another record high, while gold closed down, but both strengthened post-market after the Fed decision. Oil futures rose, snapping a two-day losing streak.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

U.S. stocks ended higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point, but signaled it might wait to cut again amid internal divisions over whether inflation or the labor market should be its bigger worry.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%, the S&P 500 increased 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3%.

The Fed voted 9-3 for the reduction, the first time in six years that three officials cast dissents. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid thought the reduction wasn't warranted, while Fed governor Stephen Miran favored a larger, half-point cut.

Stock indexes rose after Fed Chair Jerome Powell started his post-meeting press conference.

Investors took Powell's comments as being a bit more dovish than expected, especially after he revealed more concerns about the state of the labor market, at one point saying that it "seems to have significant downside risks."

That cheered investors, who took it as a sign that future rate cuts are still likely.

Investors had grown less confident about cuts next year, partly due to cautious comments by Kevin Hassett, the favorite to be Powell's replacement when his tenure as chair ends in May. That cast extra attention on the "dot-plot" projections that came out with the rate cut Wednesday.

In the new quarterly projections, six of 19 officials penciled in a year-end rate above the level before Wednesday's cut-a sign that some Fed voters backed the cut with reservations or that nonvoting officials at the central bank were opposed.

Earlier Wednesday, markets in Asia ended mixed.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2%, the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.3%, and the ChiNext Price Index ended flat.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4%.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.1%.

Stocks in Australia slipped, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index fell 0.1%.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 0.6%.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures settled higher, snapping a two-day losing streak in a session of ups and downs that included mixed U.S. inventory data and the Fed's widely expected interest-rate cut.

"Crude looks to be locked into a holiday-type trading pattern with heavy global supplies versus stable demand, with the wild card being geopolitical events," said Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial.

The EIA reported a 1.8 million barrel crude stock draw for last week, but bigger-than-expected builds in gasoline and diesel stocks.

WTI settled up 0.4% at $58.46 a barrel, and Brent rose 0.4% to $62.21 a barrel.

Oil futures extended gains post-market after the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in what's seen as an escalation of tensions between Washington and Caracas. A Pentagon official said the move was a warning to tankers waiting to load Venezuelan crude oil.

Silver futures rose to a another new record Wednesday, with the front-month contract settling up 0.4% to $60.379 a troy ounce.

It's the second consecutive session that silver finished higher, coming ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision.

Analysts still see upside for silver, due to silver's inclusion in future AI data centers. But ahead of the turn of the year, silver futures may pull back before climbing to new heights.

"Before jumping in and joining the masses, I would expect a bit of a pullback, with the RSI momentum indicator printing in overbought territory," said Robert Yawger of Mizuho Securities USA.

Front-month gold, meanwhile, closed down 0.2% to $4,196.40 a troy ounce.

However, gold and silver futures strengthened post-market after the Federal Reserve trimmed rates by a quarter-point.

The central back signaled that no additional cuts may be coming. This could make safe-haven assets like precious metals more opportune for investors. Compounding that is the coming end of Jerome Powell's tenure as Chair, which may keep the board at a standstill until a replacement is in place.

"We doubt that the Fed will cut again until after a new Chair replaces Jerome Powell in May," said Capital Economics in a note after the rate cut.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Fed Cuts Rates Again, Signals It May Be Done for Now

Federal Reserve officials cut interest rates at their third consecutive meeting, but signaled a move to the sidelines amid unusual internal divisions over whether inflation or the job market should be their bigger worry.

The Fed voted 9-3 for the reduction on Wednesday, the first time in six years that three officials cast dissents. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid thought the reduction wasn't warranted, while Fed governor Stephen Miran favored a larger, half-point cut.

The decision to reduce the benchmark federal-funds rate by a quarter point-to between 3.5% and 3.75%, a three-year low-is aimed at protecting against a sharper-than-anticipated slowdown in hiring.

Oracle Reports $16.1 Billion in Revenue, Narrowly Missing Forecasts

Oracle's revenue and operating income for the most recent financial quarter fell slightly short of analysts' expectations, a result that is unlikely to quiet concerns over the company's ability to capitalize on the AI industry's demand for computing capacity.

The company reported quarterly revenue of $16.1 billion, up 14% from a year earlier, with overall cloud revenue growing by 34%. Its adjusted operating income of $6.7 billion represented a 10% increase. Its cloud infrastructure revenue, reflecting its business from artificial-intelligence companies, was $4.1 billion, slightly lower than analyst expectations.

The company said Wednesday it had new cloud-computing commitments from Meta Platforms, Nvidia and other companies.

Adobe Expects Double-Digit Recurring Revenue Growth Next Year

The software company expects revenue to be $25.90 billion to $26.10 billion in 2026

Adobe expects double-digit annual recurring revenue growth next year as it looks to expand its AI business.

The software company on Wednesday posted a profit of $1.86 billion, or $4.45 a share, in the fourth quarter that ended in November, compared with $1.68 billion, or $3.79 a share, a year earlier.

Investors Bet That a Higher Bid for Warner Is Coming

Investors are betting that there are higher bids yet to come for Warner Bros.

Paramount Chief Executive Officer David Ellison sat with a number of Warner investors in meetings in New York on Tuesday, seeking their support and asking them to take action by going to Warner management and board members and expressing that they favor Paramount's bid over Netflix's, according to people familiar with the matter.

A number of attendees came away with the view that a higher bid from Paramount was more than likely, some of the people said. Warner's stock jumped as the investor meetings took place in New York, and ended trading Tuesday almost 4% higher, highlighting that growing optimism. Shares rose again early Wednesday.

Microsoft, Amazon Bet Billions on India

Big Tech is doubling down on India, with new pledges from Amazon.com and Microsoft set to pour over $50 billion into the South Asian country.

India has drawn tens of billions of dollars from major technology companies this year, underlining its appeal as an artificial-intelligence and cloud hub.

"India is becoming a hotbed for tech investments and planting the flag pole," said Dan Ives, global head of tech research at Wedbush Securities.

Expected Major Events for Thursday

00:30/AUS: Nov Labour Force

06:30/PHI: Philippine Monetary Policy meeting and decision

21:00/SKA: Nov Import price index

21:00/SKA: Nov Export price index

21:00/SKA: Nov Net barter terms of trade

21:30/NZ: Nov BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index $(PMI)$

21:45/NZ: Nov Electronic Card Transactions

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 10, 2025 16:54 ET (21:54 GMT)

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