Apple tops $2 trillion | S&P 500 touches another record | Fed cautious on economy

The Federal Open Market Committee expressed concern at their last meeting over the future of the economy, saying that the coronavirus likely would continue to stunt growth and potentially pose dangers to the financial system.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE WED, AUG 19, 2020 EVENING BRIEF AS OF WED, AUG 19, 2020 • 04:06 ET DJIA 27692.88 -0.31% -85.19 S&P 500 3374.85 -0.44% -14.93 NASDAQ 11146.46 -0.57% -64.38   Most Active DOW NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 462.83 +0.58 +0.13% MSFT 209.70 -1.28 -0.61% BA 169.27 -0.96 -0.56% S&P 500 NAME LAST CHG %CHG BAC 25.50 -0.03 -0.12% AAL 12.68 +0.08 +0.63% GE 6.38 -0.06 -0.93% NASDAQ NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAL 12.68 +0.08 +0.63% UAL 34.44 +0.46 +1.35% AMD 81.09 -0.57 -0.70%   EDITOR'S NOTE The $2 trillion club is now open for business.   Apple became on Wednesday the first publicly traded company in the U.S. to reach a valuation of $2 trillion. The milestone was reached just over two years after Apple became the first U.S. company to grow its valuation to $1 trillion.   "While it's got an elevated valuation, [Apple's] on the precipice of massive new cycles of hardware with the rollout of 5G," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities. "The company has also done a great job of being shareholder friendly." To be sure, some analysts think Apple's rally may have gone too far, too fast. The company's year-to-date surge of nearly 60% put its stock price about 9% above its Wall Street's 12-month average price target, according to FactSet.   Apple's gains helped lead the S&P 500 to a fresh intraday all-time high at one point Wednesday.   However, a grim outlook on the economy from the Fed knocked the index off that level.   In the minutes from its July meeting, the Fed said, "The ongoing public health crisis would weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term and was posing considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term." That comment tempered the market's enthusiasm from earlier in the day.   Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world. Fred Imbert | CNBC Markets Reporter @foimbert TOP NEWS  S&P 500 closes lower after hitting another record, Apple market cap tops $2 trillion Apple becomes first U.S. company to reach a $2 trillion market cap Fed officials expect that coronavirus will 'weigh heavily' on the economy, minutes show Target reports a monster quarter — profits jump 80%, same-store sales set record Apple's run to $2 trillion may be too far, too fast, even according to analysts who love the company 'Humbled' Boeing scores first new 737 Max orders since November On its way to $2 trillion, Apple became a market unto itself for investors seeking growth and income New York Gov. Cuomo warns NYC restaurants may have to close again in the fall Verizon makes statement with new Disney deal: The pay-TV bundle is dying and isn't coming back Apple's $2 trillion value is proof that Tim Cook's services plan worked   TOP VIDEO Roger McNamee: Tim Cook is 'perfectly tuned' for a post-iPhone Apple   CNBC PRO $10 billion stock-picking fund Soroban loaded up on Bill Ackman's new SPAC — Here are highlights   SPECIAL REPORTS When momentum meets 'FOMO': Trader calls Nvidia stock dangerous into earnings Oracle joins Microsoft, Twitter in the battle for TikTok. Two traders place their bets   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2020 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS