Wall Street Today | FedEx Earnings Lift the Stock Despite Modest Boost to Guidance

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said officials are “prepared to raise rates further if appropriate. We are committed to achieving and sustaining a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to our 2% goal over time,” Powell said at a press conference following the decision.

The FOMC held its target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%, while updated quarterly projections showed 12 of 19 officials favored another rate hike in 2023, underscoring a desire to ensure inflation continues decelerating.

Half of U.S. small-business owners say that rising interest rates over the past 18 months have eroded their margins, reduced revenue and reversed their growth, a survey conducted by Alignable showed.

Oil’s breakneck rally is taking a breather as a smaller-than-expected drop in US crude stockpiles bolstered technical resistance to further gains. The upswing has reignited talk of a return to $100 oil.

West Texas Intermediate futures were little changed after a government report showed US inventories declined 2.14 million barrels last week. Still, stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma, dropped to 23 million barrels, only around 2 million barrels away from minimum operational levels.

Goldman Sachs Group rejoined the $100-a-barrel oil club, raising its forecast for crude back to triple digits as worldwide demand hits unprecedented levels and OPEC+ supply curbs tighten the market.

With prices advancing by more than 30% since mid-June to breach $95 a barrel on Tuesday, the Wall Street bank nudged up its 12-month forecast for global benchmark Brent to $100 a barrel from $93. However, most of the rally in the vital commodity “is behind us,” the bank said in a note.

Wednesday evening, FedEx reported adjusted earnings per share of $4.55 from sales of $21.7 billion. Wall Street was looking for EPS of $3.71 from sales of $21.7 billion. A year ago, FedEx reported earnings of $3.44 a share from sales of $23.2 billion.