(Updates prices following Powell's remarks)

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) hits $5 trillion in market value

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Alphabet, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Meta to report after close

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S&P 500 down 0.1%

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 were

slightly lower late Wednesday afternoon after Federal Reserve

Chair Jerome Powell said another interest rate cut in December

is far from assured. The Nasdaq was higher.

Traders also pared bets on a December rate cut, now giving it a

71% chance, down from 90% previously.

In earlier trading, stocks rose and then added to gains

after the Fed cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage

point, as expected, and said it will restart limited purchases

of Treasury securities.

Fed policymakers also noted the limits in their

decision-making process due to the U.S. federal government

shutdown. The Fed lowered the overnight benchmark rate to a

target range of 3.75%-4.00%, the second time the U.S. central

bank eased this year.

"Markets tend to overreact to news out of the Federal Reserve in

the short term... In this case, Chairman Powell indicated that

another rate cut is not a foregone conclusion," said Oliver

Pursche, senior vice president and advisor for Wealthspire

Advisors in Westport, Connecticut.

"But no rate cut is ever a foregone conclusion. So, to me,

that is not an inappropriate comment. The (Fed) is data

dependent."

Helping to support the market, Nvidia ( NVDA ) became the first

company to crack $5 trillion in market valuation. Its stock was

last up 2.7%. It has risen more than 50% this year, leading the

AI rally on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 39.81 points,

or 0.08%, to 47,666.56, the S&P 500 lost 6.44 points, or

0.08%, to 6,884.45 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 76.39

points, or 0.32%, to 23,903.89.

Investors are anxiously awaiting results from several

megacaps this week, with Meta Platforms ( META ), Microsoft ( MSFT )

and Alphabet all due after the bell.