Wall Street Soars as Fed Holds Steady Amid Economic Jitters

Hang onto your hats, folks! U.S. stocks rocketed higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates on lockdown, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell threw some serious shade on the economy's future. Talk about a rollercoaster!

The S&P 500 shot up 0.43%, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.27%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average? It blasted off by a whopping 284 points, or 0.7%. Buckle up!

Disney sent the Dow into orbit with killer earnings and a mind-blowing surge in Disney+ subscribers that no one saw coming. Surprise, surprise!

No shocker here: the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate glued to a range of 4.25%-4.5%, right where it's been chilling since December.

But hold on tight! The Fed's statement after the meeting and Powell's press conference screamed one thing: they're sweating bullets over inflation sticking around like an unwanted houseguest while the economy hits the brakes.

"The Committee is eyeballing risks on both sides of its dual mandate," the Fed declared, spilling the beans that "the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation are climbing." Yikes!

Powell didn't mince words either, saying, "My gut tells me that uncertainty about the economy is through the roof," but hey, he's keeping his cool because the worst hasn't hit the fan... yet.

Trade Policies

The Fed's playing it safe as the Trump crew cranks up the heat on protectionist trade policies. Buckle up, it's gonna be a wild ride!

On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump dropped a bombshell, telling reporters he's not backing down on tariffs for Chinese imports before the upcoming U.S.-China trade talks in Switzerland. No mercy!

"Large increases in tariffs could slam the brakes on growth, spike long-term inflation, and send unemployment soaring," Powell warned. Brace for impact!

The market was also buzzing after Bloomberg spilled the beans that Trump's team might lift those pesky Biden-era restrictions on AI chip exports, sending Nvidia shares skyrocketing by about 2%. Ka-ching!

But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Apple and Alphabet dragged the Nasdaq down, with Alphabet nosediving roughly 8% after whispers that Apple might ditch Google as the default search engine in Safari, opting instead for its own AI-powered search tools. Ouch!