Stock Market Today: Shares Fall After Fed Hikes Interest Rate
U.S. stocks fell Wednesday after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates 0.75% and its chairman signaled more increases were likely.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 505.44 points, or 1.55%, to close at 32,147.76. The S&P 500 dropped 96.41 points, or 2.50%, to close at 3,759.69, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 366.05 points, or 3.36%, to close at 10,524.80.
Shares initially rose on the central bank's announcement but fell after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled more increases at the same rate could be expected to stifle inflation.
"We still have some ways to go and incoming data since our last meeting suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected," Powell said at a press conference after the rate increase announcement.
"We have some ground to cover with interest rates," Powell said, adding that "there's no sense that inflation is coming down."
The 0.75% increase was the fourth consecutive hike at that rate this year.
Some of the stocks that declined included Apple (AAPL), which closed at $145.03, down $5.62, or 3.73%. Qualcomm's (QCOM) price of shares fell $4.83, or 4.12%, to close at $112.50.
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