4:02 p.m. ET, March 6, 2024
Markets close higher after Powell testimony
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on March 6.
Bonnie Cash/Reuters
US stocks ended the day up following two consecutive losing sessions on Wall Street.
Markets bounced higher as tech stocks rebounded and as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that interest rate cuts are likely this year.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 76 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 gained 0.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was 0.6% higher.
The Dow was up by more than 200 points in midday trading before paring back gains later in the afternoon.
Speaking before the House Financial Services Committee, Powell said he believes the Fed's policy rate is likely at its peak and will dial back interest rates this year. But Powell cautioned that the economic outlook is still uncertain.
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, meanwhile, said that Fed policy is in a good place but that holding rates high for too long could hurt the economy.
Treasury yields dipped slightly but remained mostly steady on the news.
Shares of New York Community Bank also gained 7.5% on Wednesday after falling to multi-decade lows just hours before. The beleaguered bank announced that it had received a $1 billion lifeline in the form of an equity investment led by former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's company, Liberty Strategic Capital, Hudson Bay Capital and Reverence Capital Partners.
Gold finished the day up 0.8%, at a fresh record and bitcoin futures continued to climb, gaining more than 8%.
Shares of Apple, meanwhile, fell 0.6%, dropping for the sixth day in a row as the tech giant grapples with reports that sales of the iPhone plummeted 24% in china.
As stocks settle after the trading day, levels might change slightly.