Log in to today’s North American session Market wrap for September 18
Today’s story was one of a FOMC rate decision that American Markets loved. Between a comeback in the US Dollar and Nasdaq rallying to new highs, traders loved the atmosphere.
Tech stocks led the charge after the acquisition news that Nvidia had acquired a stake in Intel, propelling related names like CrowdStrike and Synopsys higher.
Still, the Dow Jones closed near the same lows seen during the FOMC’s intraday down-wick, a dynamic that will be worth watching in the coming sessions. By contrast, the Russell 2000 marked fresh all-time highs—a first since November 2024—underscoring the rotation into smaller caps.
The underlying theme is one of a Fed independence that finally wasn’t gone too far (for now at least).
Powell’s not-so-dovish speech reassured US investors that the central bank decision-making is still guided by economic fundamentals rather than political pressure.
Repeating what I mentioned on this Gold/Silver piece released earlier, Bowman and Waller, early birds for Rate cut calls got proven right by a degrading labor market which indeed gave them further credibility.
For the US Dollar, there is still plenty of ground to cover before reaching pre-August highs, but the price action no longer carries the bearish tone that dominated over the summer.
On the geopolitical side, President Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared in a joint conference, reiterating alignment on the Russia-Ukraine war and broader global issues.
While differences emerged on some details, the talks highlighted stronger US-UK unity.
Bloomberg also reported that European LNG purchases from Russia are set to be phased out at a faster pace, reflecting the region’s accelerated shift away from Moscow’s energy supply.