Stocks choppy as Fed leans hawkish, oil climbs on Mideast uncertainty
NEW YORK :Wall Street stock trading was volatile after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, while oil prices edged higher again as investors analyzed the chances that the Israel-Iran air war might lead to supply disruption or any intervention from Washington.
The U.S. central bank forecast a slightly slower pace of cutting interest rates, predicting that President Donald Trump's tariffs would stoke inflation.
"The Fed is looking at slower economic growth and the vote was unanimous and the fact that rates remain unchanged is no surprise," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital.
"They do state that the economy is slowed, but still on solid footing."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was last up 0.08 per cent, the S&P 500 0.09 per cent higher and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.19 per cent, having traded briefly higher than those levels after the Fed statement.
Geopolitics remained in focus as Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected Trump's demand for unconditional surrender, and Trump said his patience had run out but did not indicate his next step.
Trump declined to say whether he had made any decision on whether to join Israel's bombing campaign against archenemy Iran. "Nobody knows what I'm going to do," he said.
U.S. crude oil futures settled 0.4 per cent higher at $75.14 per barrel on the sixth day of the Middle East conflict. Brent rose to $76.74 per barrel, up 0.43 per cent on the day.
U.S. TREASURY YIELDS FALL, THEN RISE
U.S. Treasury yields fell after the Fed statement before turning slightly higher on the day.
The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 0.6 basis point to 4.397 per cent, from 4.391 per cent late on Tuesday.
Treasury yields had slid earlier in the week as investors calculated that geopolitical risks abroad were greater than the chances the U.S. debt pile would become unmanageable.
Economic data from earlier in the week had made for a challenging backdrop for the Fed decision.
U.S. retail sales fell by a larger-than-expected 0.9 per cent in May, data showed on Tuesday, the biggest drop in four months, while labor market indicators showed weakness.
The two-year yield, which is more sensitive to changes in expectations for Fed interest rates, fell 0.7 basis point to 3.944 per cent, from 3.95 per cent late on Tuesday.
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