The New York Stock Exchange rose on expectations of two interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) this year. Jerome Powell, chair of the Fed, recently noted he is "uncertain but not overly concerned" about signs of rising inflation and the possibility of a recession, which boosted investor sentiment.
On the 19th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 41,964.63, up 383.32 points (0.92%) from the previous session on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index finished up 60.63 points (1.08%) at 5,675.29, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 246.67 points (1.41%) to finish at 17,750.79.
On this day, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced its decision to keep interest rates unchanged for the second consecutive time after its March meeting. The U.S. benchmark interest rate will remain at the current level (4.25%–4.50%) until the next FOMC meeting, which will be held in early May. The Fed indicated a possibility of two interest rate cuts by the end of the year.
Additionally, Powell stated, "The possibility of a recession has been adjusted upward but is not high." He added, "Inflation may partially rise due to tariffs, but prices surging because of tariffs will return to normal levels soon," noting that "long-term expected inflation is generally well anchored."
As a result, all sectors comprising the S&P 500 rose on this day. In particular, the gains in energy and technology stocks were notable. Venture Global, the second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer in the U.S., saw its stock jump nearly 3% after news that it received approval for LNG exports.
Following reports that President Donald Trump would meet with the CEOs of about 10 U.S. refining companies at the White House to discuss recovering energy dominance and measures to cope with soaring electricity demand, shares of major U.S. refiners ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Marathon all rose by more than 1% to 2%.
Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company that faced difficulties last year, saw its stock increase by about 7% following comments from Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brian West that "cash flow and factory operations have improved this quarter."
Software company MicroStrategy announced plans to issue 5 million shares of preferred stock to raise funds for additional cryptocurrency purchases, which led to a more than 7% increase in its stock price. Meanwhile, the stock price of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., Coinbase, rose by nearly 5%.
Intel, which recently appointed a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), halted a five-day streak of gains and fell by 6.9%. However, Intel’s stock has risen 19.3% so far this year.
The large tech stock group dubbed the "Magnificent Seven" (M7), which had closed lower the previous day, successfully rebounded on this day. Nvidia rose by 1.8%, Microsoft by 1.1%, Apple by 1.2%, Alphabet by 2%, Tesla by 4.7%, Amazon by 1.4%, and Meta by 0.3% respectively.