US markets end in red after Fed hikes rates for 10th time

04 May 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended in red on Wednesday, extending steep losses from the previous session, after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates by another quarter but appeared to signal a potential pause in rate hikes. The Fed decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 5 to 5.25 percent, making the tenth straight rate hike. The unanimous decision to continue raising rates came as the Fed noted inflation remains elevated while also observing that job gains have been robust in recent months and the unemployment rate has remained low. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would take a data-dependent approach to future monetary policy decisions and stressed a decision on a pause was not made at the meeting.

The next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for June 13-14, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating an 87.1 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged. On the sectoral front, oil service stocks extended the sell-off seen during trading on Tuesday, with a continued nosedive by the price of crude oil weighing on the sector. With crude for June delivery plummeting $3.06 to $68.60 a barrel, the NYSE Arca Oil Index tumbled by 2.2 percent to its lowest closing level in over a month. Substantial weakness also emerged among financial stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the KBW Bank Index down by 2.2 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 270.29 points or 0.8 percent to 33,414.24, Nasdaq fell 55.18 points or 0.46 percent to 12,025.33 and S&P 500 was down by 28.83 points or 0.7 percent to 4,090.75.

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