Dow Surges 350 Points; Fed Holds Rates Steady

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, after the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged.

The Dow traded up 0.91% to 39,467.76 while the NASDAQ rose 1.08% to 16,341.42. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.78% to 5,218.70.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose by 1.3% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, health care shares fell by 0.4%.

Top Headline

The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged Wednesday between 5.25% and 5.5% at its March meeting, as widely expected by investors, confirming intentions to lower the cost of money in the coming months.

Equities Trading UP

ETAO International Co., Ltd. ETAO shares shot up 87% to $0.2670. The company announced a reverse stock split.

Shares of XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. XTLB got a boost, surging 90% to $1.96 after the company announced plans to acquire The Social Proxy.

TruGolf Holdings, Inc. TRUG shares were also up, gaining 48% to $1.70 after the company announced a newly expanded AI technology licensing agreement with mlSpatial.

Equities Trading DOWN

Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. LFCR shares dropped 32% to $4.9050 after the company announced it concluded its strategic evaluation process, announced management succession and board changes.

Shares of Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. AQST were down 16% to $4.47. Aquestive Therapeutics priced its $75 million underwritten public offering of 16,666,667 common shares at $4.50 per share.

Signet Jewelers Limited SIG was down, falling 10% to $92.17 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter sales and issued weak FY25 guidance.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2% to $81.84 while gold traded up 1.3% at $2,187.90.

Silver traded up 2.6% to $25.80 on Wednesday, while copper rose 0.4% to $4.0890.

Euro zone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.05%, London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.01% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.48% The German DAX rose 0.15% French CAC 40 fell 0.48% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.09%.

Industrial production in Italy declined by 1.2% month-over-month in January compared to a revised 1.2% surge in December. Producer prices in Germany fell by 4.1% year-over-year in February.

UK’s producer prices increased by 0.4% year-over-year in February, while inflation rate eased to 3.4% year-over-year in February.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 0.08%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.55% and India’s S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.1%.

The People's Bank of China held benchmark lending rates at the recent fixing.

Economics

U.S. mortgage applications declined by 1.6% on the week ending March 15.

Crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined by 1.952 million barrels in the week ended March 15, versus market estimates of a 0.013 million gain.

The Fed kept interest rates unchanged between 5.25% and 5.5% at its March meeting.

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