US markets end mostly in red as Fed keeps rate unchanged

19 Jun 2025 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly in red Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged. The Fed said it decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 4.25 percent  to 4.50 percent in support of its dual goals of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. Traders also took note of Fed officials' expectation of two interest rate cuts this year, lowering the rate to a range of 4.0 percent to 3.75 percent by the end of 2025. Besides, traders overlook report released by the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged modestly lower in the week ended June 14. The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 245,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 2,50,000, while street had expected jobless claims to slip to 245,000 from the 248,000 originally reported for the previous week.

On sectoral front, banking stocks have turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the KBW Bank Index climbing by 1.8 percent. Significant strength has been seen among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain in Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 44.14 points or 0.1 percent to 42,171.66 and S&P 500 edged down 1.85 points or 0.03 percent to 5,980.87, while Nasdaq inched up 25.18 points or 0.13 percent to 19,546.27.

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