US stocks rise amid earnings, fresh Fed comments on rates

• US stocks rose on Wednesday as investors took in strong earnings and comments from Fed speakers.
• All three benchmark indexes rose higher, with the S&P 500 ending just shy of 5,000.

US stocks ticked higher on Wednesday as traders took in more fourth-quarter earnings and assessed remarks from central bank officials on the path of rate cuts this year.

All three benchmark indexes ended the day in the green, with the S&P 500 stopping shy of the 5,000 level.

Of the S&P 500 firms that have reported earnings so far, 75% have beat analysts' estimates by an average 7.3%, according to FactSet data. Ford, Uber, and Roblox all climbed higher after beating earnings estimates this week.

Disney is the latest high-profile firm to report earnings. The media company reported earnings after the closing bell, beating Wall Street's estimates and giving raising guidance for the fiscal year. The stock rose 6.7% in after-hours trading.

Investors also absorbed the latest comments from central bankers, who seemed to affirm hope that interest rate cuts are on the way.

Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said rate cuts would be appropriate "at some point," assuming inflation and the labor market continued to cool. She noted there was some risk the progress in lowering inflation could stall, which could result in rates staying at their current level for a longer period of time.

Boston Fed President Susan Collins said she saw rate cuts likely coming later in the year.

"Seeing sustained, broadening signs of progress should provide the necessary confidence I would need to begin a methodical adjustment to our policy stance," Collins said at the Boston Economic Club on Wednesday.

Traders are still pricing in an aggressive pace of rate cuts to end the year, despite Powell pushing back on March rate cut expectations earlier in the week. Investors are now pricing in a 65% chance that rates could be cut 125 basis-points by December, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 4,995.06, up 0.82%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 38,677.36, up 0.4% (+156.00 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 15,756.64, up 0.95%

Here's what else happened today:

• China's housing bust is happening at a "historically rapid pace" only seen in the worst collapses over the past three decades, IMF researchers said.
• Russia's wartime economy is actually flush with resources despite Western sanctions, according to the European economist Michel Santi.
• NYCB's stock crash shows the peril of a bank growing too fast.
• The West is seeking to take back Russia's shadow fleet of oil tankers, a sanctions official said.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 0.8% to $73.90 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, inched higher 0.03% to $79.23 a barrel.
• Gold slipped 0.04% to $2,035.41 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield was little changed at 4.102%.
• Bitcoin gained 2.09% to $44,085.