S&P 500 Tops 6,900 Ahead Fed Rate Move, Gold Reclaims $4,000: What's Moving Markets Wednesday?

Core Insights - A significant rise in AI-related stocks, particularly NVIDIA Corp., has driven the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 to record highs, with the S&P 500 surpassing 6,900 and the Nasdaq 100 reaching 26,100 points as investors anticipate the Federal Reserve's rate decision [1][4]. Company Performance - NVIDIA made history by becoming the first company to exceed a $5 trillion market valuation, contributing to the Magnificent Seven's total worth of $22.2 trillion [2]. - Caterpillar Inc. reported a 13% increase in stock price, its strongest single-day gain since March 2009, due to better-than-expected results driven by robust data center demand [5]. - Other notable stock performances included Teradyne Inc. up 20%, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC up 18.3%, and Centene Corp. up 11% [5]. - Conversely, Fiserv Inc. saw a significant decline of over 40% after missing profit estimates and lowering its earnings outlook [5]. Market Trends - The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) has shown strong performance, rallying for five consecutive sessions and outperforming other sectors [3]. - Precious metals experienced a rebound, with silver rising 2.5% to $48.20 per ounce and gold gaining 1.2% to reclaim the $4,000 level [6]. - Oil prices increased by 1.2% to $60 per barrel, while natural gas prices spiked 15% to $3.85, marking the largest one-day increase since December 2024 [6]. Major Indices Performance - On Wednesday, major U.S. indices showed the following performance: - Russell 2000: 2,523.75 (+0.6%) - Dow Jones: 47,964.13 (+0.5%) - Nasdaq 100: 26,133.70 (+0.5%) - S&P 500: 6,907.81 (+0.2%) [7]. ETF Movements - The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) increased by 0.2% to $632.62, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) rose 0.4% to $479.27 [10]. - The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (QQQ) gained 0.4% to $634.87, and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) rallied 0.6% to $250.50 [10]. - The Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) outperformed with a 0.8% increase, while the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) lagged, declining by 2% [10].