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Rocky. The three major U.S. stock market indexes swung from losses to gains to losses again during a wild morning of trading as the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a surprise 50-basis-point cut to interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 292 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 dipped 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7%.

Midday Movers

Newmont (ticker: NEM) gained 5.5% as the price of gold jumped more than 3% in reaction to the Fed’s rate cut.

Lennar (LEN) rose 3.9% and D.R. Horton (DHI) was up 2.5% because investors see lower mortgage rates as being bullish for home builders.

A host of financials and brokers lost ground, as lower interest rates mean less interest income. SVB Financial (SIVB) was down 6.3%; Charles Schwab (SCHW) fell 5.9%; Comerica (CMA) dropped 5.7%; Raymond James Financial (RFJ) lost 5.3%; and Ameriprise Financial (AMP) slid 5.2%.

Write to Ben Walsh at ben.walsh@barrons.com