Recession odds, while higher, aren’t alarming. Inflation, while still sticky, isn’t worth fretting over. And trade policy? It’ll become clear when it becomes clear. In short, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, there’s no reason to do anything with the current path of monetary policy.

For battered stock bulls, the message was a relief. The S&P 500 Index spiked higher by as much as 1.8% before fading into the close. Its 1.1% gain still marked the best Fed-decision day since July. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index jumped more than 2% at its highest, with Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia Corp. all arresting, at least temporarily, drops that left them lower for the year.