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Informist, Thursday, Jun. 18, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: US mkt ends dn after Fed hints at possible rate hike this year

 

MUMBAI--0745 IST--US stock indices ended lower on Wednesday and bond yields surged after the US Federal Reserve kept the policy interest rate unchanged at 3.5-3.75%. While the decision was in line with the consensus expectation, commentary by officials hinted at a rate hike this year. All three major US indices ended in the red, down around 1?ch.

 

In his first policy meeting, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh underscored the need to subdue inflation and said that the central bank would deliver price stability. Notably, Warsh himself refrained from providing a projection, deviating from common practice. Following the policy meeting, expectations that the Fed would hold rates steady were at 13% compared to 40?rlier, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool, Reuters reported. Treasury yields rose following the decision, with the 2-year yield rising more than 16 basis points to 4.216%, according to a CNBC report. 

 

"He is absolutely telling you that he plans on delivering on price stability. So that means ... we're not going to have such easy money policy as everybody thought maybe Chairman Warsh would do back in the first quarter of this year, when everyone was counting on rate cuts," DoubleLine Capital Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Gundlach said on CNBC's 'Closing Bell'. "He doesn't sound like that today at all."

 

On Wednesday, all of the S&P 500's 11 major industry indices closed lower after the Fed meeting. Communications services was the worst hit sector, down 3%, while industrials fared better than its peers, closing marginally lower, Reuters reported.

 

Major technology stocks were a drag in Wednesday's session, with 'Magnificent 7' stocks Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon, all ending 2-5% lower. Elon Musk's SpaceX also ended in negative territory for the first time since going public last week. The stock closed 5% lower. However, gains in some chip stocks like Micron Technology and Intel helped limit the losses. 

 

The following were the closing levels of major US indices on Wednesday:

 

US Indices	Levels	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	51492.55	(-)0.98
NASDAQ Composite	26021.66	(-)1.34
S&P 500	7420.1	(-)1.21

 

(Shruti Nair)

 

US$1 = INR 94.53

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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