Stock ended the day mixed Wednesday after the Federal Reserve decided to leave interest rates unchanged in the 2.25% to 2.5% range and downgraded its expected rate path to signal that no rate hikes are likely in 2019.
The decision had been widely anticipated after central-bank officials led by Chairman Jerome Powell signaled in January they would pause their three-year campaign to tighten monetary policy as the U.S. economy slows.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 142 points, or 0.55%, to 25,746, while the S&P 500 was down 0.29% and the Nasdaq was up 0.07%.
"No surprises on the rate front today, but it's notable to hear the Fed echo what the market already believes: we won't see rates moves north this year," said Mike Loewengart, vice president of investment strategy at E-Trade Financial. "We also received additional clarity on the balance sheet, and it's even more telling that they're beginning to pull this additional lever as well, which establishes a decidedly accommodative stance for the Fed."
Stocks had been lower earlier on Wednesday after President Trump said the China trade tariffs could go on for a long time.
"We're not talking about removing (tariffs), we're talking about leaving them for a substantial period of time because we have to make sure that if we do the deal with China that China lives by the deal," Trump told reporters on Wednesday. He also added, however, that a deal with China was "coming along nicely."
Trump's comments came a day after reports said China may be pushing back against American trade talk demands ahead of meetings next week in Beijing, which are expected to include U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Global oil prices jumped Wednesday after the U.S. Energy and Information Administration posted a bigger-than-expected decline in domestic stockpiles for a second consecutive week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 1.4% to $60.13 a barrel.
FedEx (FDX) dropped after the company cut its fiscal 2019 profit forecast for the second time in three months after posting weaker-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings. Shares fell 3.5% to $175.09.
General Mills (GIS) reportedbetter-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings as a jump in sales primarily driven by its recently acquired Blue Buffalo unit prompted the company to raise guidance. Shares were up 2.2% to $48.27. Shares of Tesla ( TSLA) ended up 2.3% to $ 273.60 after after Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote that he believed "Tesla continues to clearly streamline its battery manufacturing efficiency process to a point that is a major competitive advantage vs. encroaching EV competitors. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose after Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) said it will use the chipmaker'sRadeon GPUs and developer tools in Google's new video game streaming service Stadia. Shares were off 1.2% to $25.70. Meanwhile, EU antitrust regulators fined Alphabet ?,?1.49 billion ($1.7 billion) for unfairly restricting rivals from displaying ads on its platform via third parties using its AdSense tool. Shares of Alphabet were up 2% to $1,226.43. Alphabet is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS member club. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells GOOGL ? Learn more now.Want to learn about retirement planning from some of the nation's top experts? Join TheStreet's Robert "Mr. Retirement" Powell live in New York on April 6 for our Retirement Strategies Symposium. For a limited time, tickets are available for $99 for this full-day event. Check out the agenda, learn about the speakers and sign up here.