[New York Stock Market Briefing] Powell: "Current monetary policy is not holding back the U.S. economy"... Stock indices show weakness

The New York Stock Exchange closed lower. The Fed maintained rates for another time on the 30th (local time), stating it would continue to observe the impact of tariff policies despite President Donald Trump's pressure for a rate cut.

On this day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended trading at 44,461.28, down 171.71 points (0.38%) from the previous session. The S&P 500 closed at 6,362.9, down 7.96 points (0.12%) from the previous session. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite Index finished at 21,129.67, up 31.38 points (0.15%) from the previous session.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell commented at a press conference after the Fed held the benchmark rate at the current 4.25~4.5%, saying about the outlook for a rate cut in September, "We don't see current policy as unduly restraining the U.S. economy."

He added, "We haven’t made any decisions about the September meeting and will consider all information we get before the September meeting."

Regarding tariff policy, Powell said, "A lot of uncertainties remain that we have to solve simultaneously. I don’t feel the end of that process is very close," indicating that the Fed’s wait-and-see approach could be prolonged.

Earlier, President Trump said, "I heard the Fed won’t lower rates today but in September," but the market interpreted Powell’s remarks that day as hawkish (favoring monetary tightening).

The S&P 500 index, which had remained firm until the rate hold announcement, turned lower during the session after Powell’s comments.

By stock, Microsoft (MS), the world's largest software company, saw its stock rise by over 8% in after-hours trading as its second quarter sales and earnings per share both exceeded market expectations.

On the 30th (local time), MS announced that it recorded $76.44 billion in sales and $3.65 in earnings per share in the second quarter (fiscal fourth quarter). Sales beat the Wall Street consensus calculated by LSEG of $73.81 billion, and EPS also surpassed the expected $3.37. Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 18%, and net income rose to $27.23 billion, up 23%.

On the regular session of the NYSE that day, MS shares rose 0.13%, and after earnings announcement, surged about 8.7% in after-hours trading.

As of the close of the regular session, Microsoft's market cap stood at $3.8014 trillion, and is expected to become the second company after NVIDIA among AI blue-chip stocks to break through the $4 trillion mark.

Reporter Minkyeong Shin, Hankyung.com radio@hankyung.com