Market News

Wall Street closed higher, with investors watching Fed minutes for interest rate clues and tracking Q4 earnings. The Nasdaq Composite, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended in positive territory.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.02% or 10.26 points to close at 44,556.34. Notably, 21 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while nine finished in negative zone.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 14.49 points or 0.1% to close at 20,041.26.

The S&P 500 gained 0.2% or 14.95 points to end at 6,129.58. Eight out of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark ended in positive territory. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE), the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) rose 1.4%, 1.3%, 0.9% and 0.9%, respectively.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) declined 0.1% to 15.35. A total of 16.36 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, higher than the last 20-session average of 15.57 billion. Advancing issues outnumbered the declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.53-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.1-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and 11 new 52-week lows.

Fed Minutes in Focus

The Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its meeting in January today at 2 p.m. ET to shed light on its decision to maintain interest rates. During the meeting, policymakers chose not to adjust rates as they observed a resurgence in inflation and grappled with the uncertainty surrounding President Trump's proposed tariffs and their potential effects, on the economy.

"The Federal Reserve officials have mentioned that the robust economy and high inflation levels are reasons to keep the policy unchanged," stated Mary Daly, the President of the San Francisco Fed, who suggested delaying any rate cuts until inflation aligns, with the Feds 2% goal.

Market participants will closely examine the meeting notes to get insights, into policy choices based on the information indicating a rise in prices and a drop in consumer confidence alongside retail sales, below expectations.

Q4 Earnings Results

Constellation Energy Corporation CEG reported quarterly earnings of $2.44 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.19 per share. The company posted revenues of $5.38 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.39%.

Watsco, Inc. WSO came up with earnings of $2.37 per share for fourth-quarter 2024, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.13 per share. The company posted revenues of $1.75 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.18%.

Consequently, shares of Constellation Energy and Watsco rose 2.6% and 9.7%, respectively. Each of the stocks carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

New York Empire State Manufacturing Index Rebounds in February

Per the Fed’s New York Empire State Manufacturing Survey, the index for February 2025 was a positive 5.7. In January, it was negative 12.6.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Constellation Energy Corporation (CEG) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Watsco, Inc. (WSO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research