US STOCKS-S&P 500 edges to record closing high as Fed minutes parsed

Global Blue Holding

19/02/2025 21:18

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      Nikola falls after filing for bankruptcy protection 
    

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      Analog Devices gains after Q1 results beat estimates
    

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      January housing starts plunge
    

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      Fed minutes reveal concern over tariff effects
    

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      Indexes up: Dow 0.16%, S&P 500 0.24%, Nasdaq 0.07%
    

  
 (Updates with closing prices)
    By Stephen Culp
       NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended modestly
higher on Wednesday and the S&P 500 notched its second straight
all-time closing high as investors scrutinized the minutes from
the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting and digested U.S.
President Donald Trump's tariff plans.
    All three major U.S. equity indexes made gains on the day.
    At the Fed's January policy meeting, the U.S. central bank
left its key interest rate unchanged. The minutes show
policymakers expressed concern about stubborn inflation and the
potential effect of Trump's policy proposals, particularly
tariffs, on their efforts to bring price growth down to their
target.
        "There was some discussion (in the minutes) that there
may be some economic slowing ahead," said Paul Nolte, senior
wealth adviser and market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest in
Elmhurst, Illinois. "Maybe that's giving investors some thought
that the Fed could cut rates. It's still on the table."
  
        "That said, (the Fed's) not willing to do anything until
they get a little bit more clarity as to what the tariffs look
like," Nolte added. "So from that perspective (it's) a wait and
see."    
    Trump announced on Tuesday he would impose tariffs "in the
neighborhood of 25%" on autos, semiconductors and
pharmaceuticals, the latest in a series of measures that have
raised concerns over the consequences of a global trade war.
    "I think people are starting to see it as a bargaining chip
or bluster, more bark than bite," Nolte said.
    The Commerce Department said housing starts tumbled by 9.8%
in January, a plunge attributed to soft demand, elevated
mortgage rates and a spate of unusually frigid weather.
    Housing stocks  .HGX  were underperformers, dropping 1.5%.
    The Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI  rose 71.25 points,
or 0.16%, to 44,627.59. The S&P 500  .SPX  gained 14.57 points,
or 0.24%, at 6,144.15 and the Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC  edged up
14.99 points, or 0.07%, to 20,056.25.
        Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, healthcare
 .SPXHC  enjoyed the largest percentage gain, while materials
 .SPLRCM  and financials  .SPSY  were the laggards.
  
    Fourth-quarter earnings season is approaching the finish
line, and 74% of the S&P 500 constituents have posted
better-than-expected results, according to LSEG.
    Analysts now see fourth-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth of
15.3% year-on-year, a significant improvement over the 9.6%
estimate at the beginning of the year, according to LSEG.
    Electric truck maker Nikola  NKLA.O  plunged 39.1% in the
wake of its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
    Specialty chemicals company Celanese  CE.N  tumbled 21.5%
after reporting a quarterly loss.
    Shares of Shift4  FOUR.N  slid 17.5% following its
fourth-quarter results and on news that the payments processor
has agreed to buy Global Blue  GB.N  in a deal valued at $2.5
billion.
    Shares of Global Blue jumped 17.5%.
    Analog Devices  ADI.O  gained 9.7% after beating quarterly
profit and revenue estimates.
    Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.1-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. There were 254 new highs and 101 new lows on the
NYSE.
        On the Nasdaq, 1,962 stocks rose and 2,389 fell as
declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.22-to-1 ratio.
  
        The S&P 500 posted 28 new 52-week highs and seven new
lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 96 new highs and 119
new lows.   
  
    Volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.36 billion shares, compared
with the 15.57 billion average for the full session over the
last 20 trading days.

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US stocks trail global peers so far this year    https://reut.rs/3X8drRV
Dot plot    https://reut.rs/4k8zsdo
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 (Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Shashwat
Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard
Chang)
 ((stephen.culp@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6076))