The US markets ended mostly in red on Wednesday as oil prices extended their rally and after the Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged. The Fed kept the federal funds rate unchanged at the 3.5%-3.75% target range for a third consecutive meeting in April 2026, in line with expectations. However, losses remain capped as traders took some support with a report released by the Commerce Department stating that new orders for US-manufactured durable goods rose by 0.8% from the previous month to $318.9 billion in March of 2026, rebounding from the revised 1.2% drop in the previous month, and slightly ahead of market expectations of a 0.5% increase. The result reflected some traction to goods orders despite the jump injection of uncertainty in the period as the war with Iran triggered a surge in energy prices and disrupted global shipping. 

Also, the Commerce Department said that US housing starts rose 10.8% month-on-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.502 million in March 2026, the highest level since December 2024 and well above forecasts of 1.40 million, as builders scaled up construction despite ongoing affordability challenges. Single-family starts surged 9.7% to a 13-month high of 1.032 million, while multi-family starts jumped 9.6% to 446,000.

Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 280.12 points or 0.57 percent to 48,861.81 and S&P 500 slipped 2.85 points or 0.04 percent to 7,135.95, while Nasdaq added 9.44 points or 0.04 percent to 24,673.24.