U.S. stocks extended losses on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point in a widely expected move, but gave mixed signals about what may happen next.
With continued economic growth and strong hiring “the most likely outcomes,” the Fed nevertheless cited “uncertainties” about the outlook and pledged to “act as appropriate” to sustain the expansion.
Expectations of lower rates have supported Wall Street’s rally this year, with the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX now about 1% below its record high close in July.
At 2:03 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 0.28% at 27,035.09 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.40% to 2,993.59.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.71% to 8,128.16.
Ahead of the Fed’s announcement, the S&P 500 had been down about 0.3%.
Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were in the red.
Earlier in the day, the central bank injected more cash into the banking system as the key interest rate pierced above its targeted range for the first time since the financial crisis. That puts pressure on policymakers to come up with long-term fixes for the funding squeeze.
