The Federal Open Market Committee statement, where the Fed left interest rates unchanged, was a modest disappointment for stock bulls. The base case for most equity investors on the FOMC meeting was: 1) few if any changes in the economic outlook, and 2) the majority of Fed officials indicating they supported two rate cuts this year. Policymakers delivered on the former, but not the latter.
That would be the signal they are winning the fight against inflation. So why was the S & P 500, up 56 points prior to the announcement, only off a few points from that level immediately after? I think it has to do with the market conditions. Here is what we have: disinflation, still-strong jobs, rising earnings and a big new tech paradigm in the form of Artificial Intelligence that is powering much of the gains. That is not a recipe for a declining market.