US Stocks fall after Fed hikes rates

The US stock market finished session lower on Wednesday, 14 December 2022, snapping two days winning streak, after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate in its fight against inflation and signaled further rate hikes.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 142.29 points, or 0.42%, to 33,966.35. The S&P500 index fell by 24.33 points, or 0.61%, to 3,995.32. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 85.93 points, or 0.76%, to 11,170.89.

As expected, the central bank raised its key short-term rate by 0.50 percentage points, marking its seventh hike this year. The Fed also said it expected rates would be higher over the coming few years than it had previously anticipated.

The latest increase brings the Fed's federal funds rate to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, its highest level in 15 years. Fed policymakers forecast that the cental bank's rate will reach a range of 5% to 5.25% by the end of 2023. That suggests the Fed is prepared to raise rates by an additional 0.75 percentage points next year. The Fed also signaled it expects its rate will come down by the end of 2024 to 4.1%, and drop to 3.1% at the end of 2025.

Financial stocks showed a significant move to the downside following the Fed announcement. Considerable weakness also emerged among semiconductor stocks. Telecom, commercial real estate and steel stocks also moved to the downside, while some strength remained visible among pharmaceutical and transportation stocks.

Among Indian ADR, HDFC Bank fell 0.6% to $69.26, Wipro was down 0.4% to $4.81, Dr Reddy's ICICI Bank fell 1.8% to $22.26, and INFOSYS was down 0.05% at $18.72. Tata Motors unchanged at $25.16. WNS Holdings rose 0.16% to $81.84, Labs added 0.5% to $54.89, and Azure Power Global rose 2.34% to $4.82.

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