Stock market live Wednesday: Stocks fall as tech slides, Fed projects years of low rates, Snowflake doubles in IPO

Stock market live Wednesday: Stocks fall as tech slides, Fed projects years of low rates, Snowflake doubles in IPO via CNBC #news #CNBC

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The major indexes could not shake off the struggles of large tech stocks and drifted lower in the final hour of trading. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost 0.5% and 1.3%, respectively. The Dow, at one time up more than 350 points, notched just a 38 point gain. — Jesse Pound

Fed chair Jerome Powell concluded his press conference shortly after 3:30 p.m. With less than half an hour remaining in Wednesdays session, the Dow was up 125 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite had fallen 0.1% and 0.9%, respectively. — Jesse Pound

Continued struggles for major tech stocks weighed on the overall market and erased some of its recent gains. The Dow was up 100 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite turned negative. The Nasdaq lost 0.8%. Shares of Facebook fell more than 3% while Apple dropped more than 2%. — Jesse Pound

Oil prices jumped on Wednesday after data showed a surprise draw in U.S. inventory last week, and as Hurricane Sally hit production on the Gulf Coast. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. oil benchmark, gained $1.88, or 4.91%, to settle at $40.16. International benchmark Brent crude rose 4.17% to $42.22.

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released Wednesday showed that inventory decreased by 4.4 million barrels last week, compared with the 2.4 million barrel build expected by analysts polled by FactSet. - Pippa Stevens

The market took another step higher to session highs after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank would keep its target interest rate steady until inflation was on track to exceed the 2% target for a period of time. The Dow was trading above 350 points after the comments.

"With regard to interest rates, we now indicate that we expect it will be appropriate to maintain the current to zero to 0.25% target range for the federal funds rates until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with the committees assessments of maximum employment and inflation has risen to 2% and is on track to moderately exceed 2% for some time," Powell said. — Jesse Pound

Fed chair Jerome Powell has begun his press conference to discuss central banking policy. The press conference is streaming live in CNBCs Fed live blog. — Jesse Pound

Markets churned higher as investors digested the statement and economic projections from the Federal Reserve. The Dow extended its gain above 300 points, or 1.1%. The lagging Nasdaq Composite broke into positive territory and rose 0.3%. The S&P 500 also hit a session high. — Jesse Pound

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady at its record low level and said it planned for rates to stay low for years. The Dow climbed to session highs following the announcement and was trading up about 260 points. — Jesse Pound

The Federal Reserve is set to release its latest policy statement at 2 p.m., with Fed Chair Jerome Powell scheduled to speak to the press at 2:30 p.m. Ahead of the central banks announcement, the Dow was up about 200 points, or 0.7%, while the S&P gained 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%. 

General Electric CEO Larry Culp said at a Morgan Stanley conference that the company expected positive cash flow in the second half of the year, according to Reuters. Culp also said GE was seeing improvement in its aviation segment. Shares of GE jumped to a 7.5% gain for the session. — Jesse Pound

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