The S&P 500 (SPX) rallied on Wednesday following the latest interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The central bank decided to keep interest rates at current levels, which matched what experts expected.
Even with today’s decision, investors remained hopeful for more interest rate cuts in 2025. That’s due to a majority of Fed officials expecting two interest rate cuts this year. A minority of officials expect only a single cut, while an even smaller number predict three cuts in 2025.
As for the SPX, it’s up 0.9% as of this writing. That’s a welcome change from its 5.33% drop over the last three months and a year-to-date decrease of 4.54%. Those declines have chipped away at the index’s 52-week performance, which is still up 7.47%.
Which Stocks Are Lifting the S&P 500 Up Today?
Turning to the TipRanks SPX heatmap tool, the index is largely green today as investors celebrate the Fed meeting decision. This includes strong gains from Nvidia (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), Tesla (TSLA), Netflix (NFLX), and Boeing (BA). Areas still down include the healthcare, consumer defensive, and utilities sectors.
How to Invest in the S&P 500 Index
Investors can’t take a direct stake in the S&P 500 as it’s only an index. Instead, they might consider buying shares listed on it. Picking up those rallying today could be a solid strategy for risk-averse investors. Traders made of sterner stuff might buy stocks falling in hopes of a rebound.
A third option available to traders is buying shares of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the SPX. There are plenty to choose from with Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) being two popular choices.
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