The Dow Jones Industrial Average narrowly snapped its longest losing streak since 1974 on Thursday.
The 30-stock index nudged out a gain of 15.37 points to 42,342,24.
The S&P 500 index backed up 5.08 points to 5,867.08
The NASDAQ slumped 19.92 points to 19,372.77.
Shares of artificial intelligence darling Nvidia, which weighed down the Dow in the previous session, traded 2% higher. Gains in financial stocks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, led the recovery in equities Thursday alongside industrials, health care and utilities.
Stocks plunged Wednesday after the Federal Reserve struck a heavy blow against the roaring bull market, signaling that it was likely to only cut interest rates twice next year, down from the four reductions that had been penciled in during its last forecast in September. The central bank also trimmed its benchmark overnight borrowing rate a quarter percentage point Wednesday, to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, but the question now is what policymakers will do in 2025.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell back, raising yields to 4.57% from Wednesday’s 4.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices swooned 73 cents to $69.85 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold swooned $41.30 an ounce to $2,612.10 U.S.
