How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday, 11/1/2023

U.S. stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve indicated it may not need to pump the brakes any harder on Wall Street and the economy.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1% Wednesday. The Dow gained 221 points, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.6%. Treasury yields also eased in the bond market after the Fed announced its decision to hold interest rates steady, as expected.

The Fed hinted that a swift rise since the summer in Treasury yields, and the resulting tumble in stock prices, may be slowing inflation on their own and acting like rate-hike substitutes.

On Wednesday:

The S&P 500 rose 44.06 points, or 1.1%, to 4,237.86.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 221.71 points, or 0.7%, to 33,274.58.

The Nasdaq composite rose 210.23 points, or 1.6%, to 13,061.47.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.42 points, or 0.4% to 1,669.70.

For the week:

The S&P is up 120.49 points, or 2.9%.

The Dow is up 856.99 points, or 2.6%.

The Nasdaq is up 418.46 points, or 3.3%.

The Russell 2000 is up 32.77 points, or 2%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 398.36 points, or 10.4%.

The Dow is up 127.33 points, or 0.4%.

The Nasdaq is up 2,594.99 points, or 24.8%

The Russell 2000 is down 91.54 points, or 5.2%.