S&P 500 ends lower on mixed Fed messages, PCE on deck
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK (Reuters) — U.S. stocks edged lower on Wednesday as a robust upward GDP revision eased recession fears, while Federal Reserve officials' remarks raised questions about the duration of the central bank's restrictive policy.
The Nasdaq joined the S&P 500 in negative territory, while the Dow ended nominally higher, as investors took a wait-and-see position ahead of Thursday's crucial personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation report.
Despite the indexes' languid movement over the last three sessions, November has been a banner month. The S&P 500 remains on track to notch its biggest monthly percentage gain since July 2022.
«The market has had huge returns, so there's certainly profit taking and repositioning; there's some consolidation going on here,» said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist Ingalls & Snyder in New York. «We've had very strong earnings and there's a lot of optimism. And because of that, there's a repositioning of gains.»
In contrast to Barkin, Fed Governor Christopher Waller, widely considered a hawk, provided reassurance on Tuesday that the Fed has probably reached the end of its rate hike cycle. He hinted at the possibility of cutting rates in the near term to engineer a «soft landing» and avoid recession.
«The Fed's on hold now, but the mantra is still higher for longer,» Ghriskey added. «The economy continues to be relatively strong. There's no reason for the Fed to lower rates and risk a re-emergence of inflation.»
Indeed, on Wednesday Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester reiterated the central bank's need to remain «nimble» in its response to economic data.
Earlier in the session the Commerce Department upwardly revised its initial estimate on third-quarter gross
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