Skip to content
Sign in
Finance & Markets · North America

US stocks rise as Fed holds rates and investors track tech earnings

Wall Street stocks finished higher Wednesday as the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and investors followed earnings from major US technology companies. The S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent, while a strong report from South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix lifted technology shares earlier in the session.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 4 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 2 of 4 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 8 entries
4 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Mostly CenterL 0 · C 2 · R 1 · 1 unrated
Updat3 graphic: Federal Reserve
Updat3 graphic

What happened

Key facts

  • Hogan said technology results were “100 per cent the focus.” (per CNA).
  • SK Hynix shares rose almost 11 per cent after the South Korean chipmaker reported blockbuster earnings, and Seoul’s Kospi index gained more than 6 per cent (per CNA).

The brief

US stocks ended higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, while investors assessed earnings from major technology companies. The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent.

The Economic Times and Investors.com also reported that US stocks ended or rose higher as the Fed held rates, with Investors.com noting that Alphabet and Microsoft had divergent earnings after the market closed. The session followed a choppy course, according to CNA, which said investors weighed the Fed’s decision against technology earnings.

CNA quoted Hogan saying results from technology companies were “100 per cent the focus.” Yahoo Finance market coverage, cited by gadgetreview.com, reported that the S&P 500 and Nasdaq opened modestly higher, with technology shares driving most of the early gains. The Fed’s decision kept rates at their existing level.

Before the decision, the CME FedWatch tool put the probability of a rate increase at the October meeting below 10 per cent, according to gadgetreview.com’s account of reporting by CNBC and Charles Schwab. The coverage described the decision as widely anticipated, leaving investors’ attention on company results and the Fed’s statement.

A report from South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix added to the technology sector’s momentum earlier Wednesday. CNA said SK Hynix shares climbed almost 11 per cent after what it described as blockbuster earnings, while Seoul’s Kospi index rose more than 6 per cent.

That movement offered a regional signal of investor enthusiasm for chipmakers and technology shares, alongside the US market’s focus on corporate results. CNA also linked broader enthusiasm for artificial-intelligence companies to Anthropic’s recent revenue disclosure.

Anthropic, which created Claude AI, said Monday that its first-half revenue had increased about 1,300 per cent and indicated it expected heavy capital spending ahead. CNA said the report helped fuel interest before an expected initial public offering next month.

For Microsoft, gadgetreview.com cited Charles Schwab’s account of company guidance pointing to roughly 45 per cent constant-currency growth for Azure in the reported quarter, compared with previously reported year-over-year growth of 43 per cent.

The same outlet, citing Yahoo Finance, said Microsoft offered buyouts to as many as 60,000 employees while expanding AI infrastructure; gadgetreview.com explicitly described that employee figure as unconfirmed and in need of verification. Investors.com separately characterized Alphabet and Microsoft’s earnings as divergent, but did not provide figures in its headline.

The coverage therefore describes a market session shaped by an unchanged Fed decision, expectations already reflected in rate-market pricing, and earnings news across technology and AI. The S&P 500’s 0.3 per cent gain was the reported US index result, while the stronger moves in SK Hynix and the Kospi showed the scale of the earlier regional technology rally.

Why it matters

  • US equity investors saw the S&P 500 rise 0.3 per cent as the Fed held rates, while technology earnings commanded attention.
  • Technology shares supplied most of the early lift in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, according to Yahoo Finance market coverage cited by gadgetreview.com.
  • SK Hynix’s almost 11 per cent share gain and the Kospi’s rise of more than 6 per cent show the scale of the reported technology rally in Seoul.
  • Anthropic reported about 1,300 per cent first-half revenue growth and heavy capital spending ahead, factors CNA said contributed to enthusiasm before its expected IPO.

What to watch next

  • How investors assess upcoming US technology-company earnings, which CNA described as the session’s central focus.
  • Whether Microsoft’s Azure growth approaches the roughly 45 per cent constant-currency guidance cited by gadgetreview.com.
  • How investors interpret the Federal Reserve’s unchanged-rate decision alongside the below-10-per-cent rate-increase probability reported by the CME FedWatch tool.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
4 source articles · 4 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Mostly Center· 2 Center · 1 Right · 1 unrated
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 50% · Asia 50%
Outlet political mix
Mostly Center
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
2 outlets
1 outlet
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

2 framing differences · 2 uncorroborated claims · 2 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 2 other outlets were checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • CNA emphasized the choppy session, the Fed decision, and technology earnings; gadgetreview.com focused on early index moves, rate-market expectations, and Microsoft-related details.
  • Investors.com highlighted divergent Alphabet and Microsoft earnings in its headline, while CNA focused on the broader technology earnings theme.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Hogan told CNA technology results were “100 per cent the focus.”
  • CNA reported that Anthropic said its first-half revenue surged about 1,300 per cent and flagged heavy capital spending ahead.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not provide a breakdown of the S&P 500’s 0.3 per cent gain by company or sector.
  • Gadgetreview.com said the claim that Microsoft offered buyouts to as many as 60,000 employees had not been independently confirmed and needed verification.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act, establishing the Federal Reserve System.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. Congress passed the Federal Reserve Reform Act, clarifying the Fed’s employment and price-stability responsibilities.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. Hyundai Electronics, later renamed SK hynix, was founded.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. South Korea introduced the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI).
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. The Federal Reserve began raising its target federal funds rate.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. The Federal Reserve raised its federal funds rate target to 5.25%–5.50%.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. The Federal Reserve cut its federal funds target range by half a percentage point, to 4.75%–5.00%.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  8. The Federal Reserve cut its federal funds target range by a quarter of a percentage point.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

On September 18, 2024, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate by half a percentage point, its first reduction since 2020; at its November 7, 2024, meeting, it cut by a quarter point. Those decisions followed the Fed’s rate increases from March 2022 through July 2023, when it raised the federal funds target range to 5.25–5.5 percent to curb inflation.

The legal basis for the Fed’s monetary-policy role is the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, amended in 1977 to set its goals of maximum employment and stable prices. The Federal Open Market Committee, created under the Act, sets the target range for the federal funds rate.

Original sources

2 of 4 articles · Asia · Show all

Every story links to the reporting it was built from. How we choose sources

Spotted a factual error, a broken link or a misleading summary? Tell us.