Source: Sharecast
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.91% at 44,494.94, while the S&P 500 lost 0.11% to 6,198.01 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.82% softer at 20,202.89.
The Dow closed 400.17 points higher on Tuesday, building on gains recorded in the previous session, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite retreated from their recent record highs.
Tuesday's primary focus was comments from Powell, with the Fed head revealing that the central bank would have already eased monetary policy by now if not for Donald Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs.
"In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs and essentially all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs," said Powell.
Powell's comments come just a day after Donald Trump sent him a handwritten note demanding ultra-low interest rates.
"Jerome – You are, as usual, 'too late.' You have cost the USA A fortune – and continue to do so – you should lower the rate – by a lot!" said Trump. "Hundreds of billions of dollars being lost! No inflation."
Elsewhere, Elon Musk criticised Trump's megabill, branding it as "utterly insane and destructive". However, the bill passed in the Senate on Tuesday in a 51-50 vote and will now move on to the House, which can still reject recent changes to the legislation.
On the macro front, S&P Global's manufacturing PMI rose to 52.9 in June, up from 52 in May and ahead of both a flash estimate of 52 and expectations of 51. Output rose for the first time in four months and at the second-fastest pace since March 2024 amid higher demand for capacity. On the price front, input costs accelerated the most in nearly three years, driving output charges to jump their highest level since September 2022.
On another note, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing PMI ticked up to 49 in June, up from 48.5 in May and ahead of expectations of 48.8. While economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted for the fourth consecutive month, the rate of contraction slowed amid a rebound in production and improvements in inventories.
Still on data, the US economy created 374,000 jobs in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as job openings rose to 7.76m, with the largest gains seen in accommodation and food services. In contrast, job openings in the US federal government fell by 39,000.
Finally, US construction spending decreased by 0.30% month-on-month in May, according to the Census Bureau, dropping to a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of $2.13trn from April's revised 0.4% decrease.
In the corporate space, shares Facebook parent company Meta Platforms traded higher after the tech giant revealed plans for an AI lab focused on "superintelligence" that will include researchers poached from OpenAI, while electric carmaker Tesla traded lower after Donald Trump suggested that the Department of Government Efficiency should look into the subsidies received by companies under the leadership of Elon Musk.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $27.83 5.10%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $290.52 4.67%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $326.14 4.54%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $207.82 3.37%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $73.41 3.34%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $81.75 3.27%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $155.80 2.00%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $297.56 1.84%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $373.16 1.78%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $145.45 1.57%
Dow Jones - Fallers
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $291.27 -1.19%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $492.05 -1.16%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $123.53 -0.39%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $271.91 -0.29%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $69.10 -0.22%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $706.34 -0.20%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $267.13 -0.15%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Visa Inc. (V) $355.35 0.08%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $22.85 0.09%
S&P 500 - Risers
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $9.16 8.02%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $101.94 7.91%
Leggett & Platt Inc. (LEG) $9.61 7.74%
Packaging Corp. Amer (PKG) $202.75 7.59%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $32.17 7.36%
MGM Resorts International (MGM) $36.89 7.27%
Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $49.40 6.26%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $25.05 6.14%
Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $175.80 5.94%
LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $61.20 5.77%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $24.59 -8.53%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $58.72 -6.51%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $136.11 -5.52%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $264.74 -3.88%
Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $98.91 -3.32%
General Electric Co. (GE) $249.02 -3.25%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $153.30 -2.91%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $155.96 -2.88%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $1,293.60 -2.75%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $719.22 -2.74%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $101.94 7.91%
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $2.88 5.88%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $76.99 5.31%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $290.52 4.67%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $23.63 4.30%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $26.61 4.07%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $151.08 3.81%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $418.22 3.74%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $101.50 3.71%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $10.91 3.71%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $300.71 -6.46%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $264.74 -3.88%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $153.30 -2.91%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $1,293.60 -2.75%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $719.22 -2.74%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $120.89 -2.63%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,501.40 -2.29%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $175.84 -1.44%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $220.46 -1.22%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $176.91 -1.18%