Stock market today: US stocks hold near records as Powell buoys rate-cut hopes
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US stocks held near all-time highs on Wednesday as Jerome Powell's remarks to the Senate and House buoyed rate-cut hopes. The S&P 500 rose roughly 0.5% in mid-afternoon trading after coming off a 36th record close for the benchmark. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.4% following a sluggish start to the morning, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged more than 0.6% higher. Bets on interest rate cuts have helped stocks eke out fresh all-time highs as signs of slowing in the US economy pile up. In his semiannual testimony to Congress, Powell hinted the stage is almost set for lowering interest rates from two-decade highs, pointing to a cooling in inflation and in the jobs market. But a key test for stocks and rate-cut prospects still lies ahead in the crucial consumer inflation report due Thursday. Meanwhile, TSMC shares popped after the Taiwanese chipmaker's second quarter sales grew at their fastest pace since 2022, thanks to the AI boom. In other corporate news, Microsoft and Apple dropped plans to take observer board seats at OpenAI as antitrust scrutiny heats up.

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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live/stock-market-today-us-stocks-hold-near-records-as-powell-buoys-rate-cut-hopes-133104537.html