US equities touched a two-month low early on but recovered from the worst levels of the day to finish above the lows from Friday and Monday. That’s little comfort ahead of a pivotal Fed decision and with bonds slumping.

• S&P 500 -44 points, or 1.1%, to 3855
• Nasdaq -0.9%
• Russell 2000 -1.4%
• DJIA -1.0%
• Toronto TSX Comp -0.9%

The good news is that the best days of the year to own stocks are Fed decision days. Psychologically, people fear the worst and if there’s any silver of good news, it leads to some relief. The sun will come up on Thursday, no matter what Powell says tomorrow.

• Dow industrial average +197.26 points or 0.64% at 31019.69
• S&P index +26.56 points or 0.69% at 3899.88
• NASDAQ index up 86.63 points or 0.76% at 11535.03
• Russell 2014.65 points or 0.81% at 1812.84

Looking at the sectors of the S&P index only to work lower – Real estate and healthcare. The healthcare sector fell -0.54% while the real estate sector fell -0.22%.

The strongest gaining sectors were:

• materials which rose 1.63%.
• Consumer discretionary which rose 1.34%
• industrials which rose 1.33%, and
• utilities which rose 1.32%

Closing changes for the main US markets:

• S&P 500 -0.6%
• Nasdaq composite -0.8%
• Russell 2000 -1.7%
• DJIA -0.4%

On the week:

• &P 500 -4.8% — worst since week ending June 17
• Nasdaq composite -5.5%
• Russell 2000 -4.9%
• DJIA -4.1%

Now for more bad news: There’s an outside bearish reversal on the weekly chart of the S&P 500 (and the Nasdaq as well).

The US major indices recovered into the close and are ending the day higher but was a up and down trading session. The gains come after sharp declines yesterday that saw the Dow, S&P, and NASDAQ at its worst trading day since June 2020.

For the trading week, the Dow industrial average is down -3.14%, the S&P is down -2.98% and the NASDAQ is down -3.24%. However, all 3 indices are above their lows from last week (recall day all moved up 4 consecutive days before yesterday’s sharp fall).

The final numbers are showing:

• Dow industrial average rose 30.12 points or 0.10% at 31135.08
• S&P index rose 13.34 points or 0.34% at 3946.02
• NASDAQ index rose 86.11 points or 0.74% at 11719.69
• Russell 2000 rose 6.80 points or 0.3% at 1838.46

6 of the 11 sectors of the S&P saw gains while 5 declined:

• energy rose 2.85%
• consumer discretionary rose 1.3%
• utilities rose 0.81%

The laggards today included:

• real estate which fell -1.39%
• materials which fell -1.23%
• financials which fell -0.25%

The major US stock indices are closing higher for the 4th consecutive day.

• All 11 sectors of the S&P moved to the upside
• energy up 1.8%. Information technology up 1.63% and consumer discretionary rose 1.35%
• consumer staples was the worst performer with a gain of 0.42% and communication services rose by 0.44%
• The Dow is up 2.8% this month this month
• The S&P is up 3.9%
• The NASDAQ is up 3.8%

• Dow industrial average rose 229.63 points or 0.71% at 32381.35
• S&P index rose 43.07 points or 1.06% at 4110.42
• NASDAQ index rose 154.11 points or 1.27% at 12266.42
• Russell 2000 rose 23.23.11.23 percent at 1906.08

Stocks turned back lower after ECB sources comments that a 75 basis point hike is not ruled out for October. Today the central bank increased rates by 75 basis points the largest increase since the start of the common currency.

Those declines were whittled away into the close.

The final numbers are showing:

• Dow industrial average up 193.24 points or 0.61% at 31774.51
• S&P index up 26.31 points or 0.66% at 4006.19
• NASDAQ index up 70.24 points or 0.60% at 11862.14

The small-cap Russell index was the biggest gainer with a 14.90 point rise or 0.1% at 1846.90