US close: Stocks higher following Fed interest rate decision

Wall Street stocks closed firmly higher on Wednesday as investors digested another fat stack of corporate earnings and mulled the outcome of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.37% at 32,197.59, while the S&P 500 was 2.62% firmer at 4,023.61 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 4.06% stronger at 12,032.42.

The Dow closed 436.05 points higher on Wednesday, easily reclaiming losses recorded in the previous session after earnings from retail giant Walmart weighed on sentiment.

Earnings were again in focus on Wednesday, with Bristol-Myers Squibb posting a second-quarter earnings and revenue beat, while Kraft Heinz also beat on earnings and raised full-year sales guidance, and T-Mobile boosted full-year subscriber growth forecasts.

Hilton Worldwide posted second-quarter earnings that smashed estimates and also raised full-year guidance, while Boeing reiterated its 2022 cash flow forecasts as it prepared to resume deliveries of its Dreamliner aircraft.

The Federal Reserve also drew a considerable amount of investor attention on Wednesday after the central bank enacted its second 0.75 percentage point interest rate hike as part of an effort to ease rampant inflation without bringing about a recession. The central bank took its benchmark interest overnight borrowing rate up to a range of 2.25-2.5%, with its moves in June and July representing the bank's most stringent consecutive actions since it began using the overnight funds rate as its principal method of monetary policy back in the early 1990s.

Elsewhere on the macro front, mortgage applications fell 1.80% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ended 22 July, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, with the refinance index decreasing 4% week-on-week and the purchase index slipping 1% on the prior seven-day stretch.

Still on data, orders for goods made to last more than three years posted a sharp and unexpected rise last month, principally due to a near doubling in orders for defence aircraft. According to the Department of Commerce, total durable goods orders jumped at a month-on-month pace of 1.9% in June to reach approximately $272.6bn, with defence aircraft and parts orders soaring 80.6% to $9.76bn.

On another note, America's shortfall on trade in goods with the rest of the world shrank more quickly than expected last month, according to the Department of Commerce. In seasonally adjusted terms, the international trade deficit in goods narrowed 5.6% in June from roughly -$104.0m to -$98.2bn. Exports jumped by 2.5% in comparison to May, hitting $181.5bn, while imports dipped 0.5% to $279.7bn.

The Census Bureau revealed retail inventories, excluding automobiles, had increased 1.6% month-on-month in June, following an upwardly revised 1.4% rise in May, while the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales had decreased 20% year-on-year in June for their biggest drop since April 2020's record 33.1% slump.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $268.74 6.69%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $180.30 5.77%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $126.59 3.78%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $103.50 3.73%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $156.79 3.42%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $40.18 3.13%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $107.86 2.53%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $185.25 2.22%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $324.54 1.88%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $44.64 1.85%

Dow Jones - Fallers

3M Co. (MMM) $138.86 -1.34%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $158.96 -1.18%
Visa Inc. (V) $210.47 -0.95%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $63.01 -0.32%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $173.20 -0.28%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $91.23 -0.07%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.91 -0.02%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%
Boeing Co. (BA) $156.09 0.11%

S&P 500 - Risers

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $1,510.00 14.70%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $86.42 12.18%
Rockwell Automation Inc. (ROK) $240.46 9.58%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $113.60 7.74%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $113.06 7.66%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $177.90 7.60%
Hilton Inc (HLT) $129.25 7.51%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $234.04 7.40%
Avery Dennison Corp. (AVY) $184.19 7.24%
Amphenol Corp. (APH) $74.43 7.05%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW) $231.97 -8.78%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $36.34 -5.95%
CME Group Inc. (CME) $195.99 -3.82%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $478.35 -2.83%
Rollins Inc. (ROL) $35.36 -2.37%
Masco Corp. (MAS) $53.92 -2.16%
Clorox Co. (CLX) $142.28 -2.04%
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) $132.05 -1.43%
3M Co. (MMM) $138.86 -1.34%
ConAgra Brands Inc (CAG) $33.38 -1.30%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $86.42 12.18%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $791.67 8.78%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $113.60 7.74%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $113.06 7.66%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $177.90 7.60%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $234.04 7.40%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $268.74 6.69%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $171.54 6.65%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $169.58 6.55%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $150.10 6.52%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $36.34 -5.95%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $475.94 -0.64%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $286.99 -0.43%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $130.58 -0.40%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $0.00 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $0.00 0.00%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $194.92 0.00%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $2.75 0.00%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $0.00 0.00%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $0.00 0.00%