S&P 500 closes lower as Fed pauses rate cuts

U.S. stocks slipped after the Federal Reserve held its main interest rate steady and broke a run of cuts that began in September.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.

Treasury yields held relatively steady following the Fed’s announcement, which could hint at interest rates staying on hold for a while. Lower rates would help the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and companies to borrow, but they could give also inflation more fuel. Nvidia sank again to continue its shaky week after DeepSeek upended the AI industry.

The S&P 500 fell 28.39 points, or 0.5%, to 6,039.31.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 136.83 points, or 0.3%, to 44,713.52.

The Nasdaq composite fell 101.26 points, or 0.5%, to 19,632.32.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 5.77 points, or 0.3%, to 2,283.10.