Erasing all of their earlier gains, the US markets ended lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates and signaled a continued gradual path of increases. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points, as widely anticipated. The Fed also dropped the phrase that its policy remains accommodative. However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized that the removal of the word should be taken as an indication that the economy is performing as expected. Powell said that the US economy is in a particularly bright moment, which would point to continued increases in rates. But he also said that inflation doesn’t seem likely to spike, which would allow the Fed to continue on its gradual path to raise rates off the record lows they set following the 2008 financial crisis.
Aside from the Federal Open Market Committee, issues surrounding trade remained at the top of investors’ list of worries. While Wall Street has repeatedly ignored the threat of rising tariff tensions, focusing instead on strong economic data and corporate fundamentals, trade jitters have led to short-term volatility on fears that the situation could spiral out of control. On the economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing new home sales rebounded much more than expected in the month of August. The report said new home sales soared by 3.5 percent to an annual rate of 629,000 in August after slumping by 1.6 percent to a revised rate of 608,000 in July. Street had expected new home sales to rise by 0.5 percent.
Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 106.93 points or 0.40 percent to 26,385.28, the S&P 500 slipped 9.59 points or 0.33 percent to 2,905.97 and Nasdaq was down by 17.10 points or 0.21 percent to 7,990.37.
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