The US markets ended lower on Wednesday with Nasdaq settling cut of over two percent following the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. The Fed announced its widely expected decision to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25 to 5.50 percent in support of its dual goals of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. The decision to leave rates unchanged came as the Fed acknowledged inflation has eased over the past year but said it remains elevated. The central bank also described economic growth as solid while noting job gains have moderated since early last year but remain strong.
The Fed's statement notably removed the reference to any additional policy firming that may be appropriate. However, the Fed also said it does not expect it will be appropriate to lower rates until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he doesn't think it's likely the central bank will reach that level of confidence by the time of the March meeting. Besides, a steep drop by shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) weighed on the tech sector, with the Google parent tumbling by 7.6 percent. Alphabet came under pressure after reporting fourth quarter results that beat estimates on the top and bottom lines but weaker than expected ad revenue.
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 317.01 points or 0.82 percent to 38,150.3, Nasdaq fell 345.89 points or 2.23 percent to 15,164.01 and S&P 500 edged down 79.32 points or 1.61 percent to 4,845.65.
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