US markets end mostly in red on Wednesday

27 Jan 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday after the Fed indicated that it plans to begin raising interest rates soon, citing elevated inflation and a strong labor market. The Fed left interest rates unchanged at near-zero levels as widely expected but said the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) expects it will soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate. The comments from the Fed were largely in line with expectations, as CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently points to an 85.7 percent chance of a quarter-point rate hike at the next FOMC meeting in mid-March. In an effort to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Fed has left interest rates at zero to 0.25 percent since March of 2020.

The Fed previously pledged to leave interest rates unchanged until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with the FOMC's assessments of maximum employment. Fed Chair Jerome Powell claimed that the central bank has quite a bit of room to raise interest rates before it would harm the economy. The central bank also said it would further reduce the pace of its bond purchases to $30 billion per month beginning in February, with the Fed saying it expects to end its asset purchase program by early March. In a separate statement, the Fed outlined plans to significantly reduce the size of its balance sheet, saying it expects to start the reductions after it begins raising interest rates.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 129.64 points or 0.38 percent to 34,168.09 and S&P 500 was down by 6.52 points or 0.15 percent to 4,349.93, while Nasdaq gained 2.82 points or 0.02 percent to 13,542.12. 

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