US Stock Market Highlights: Dow Jones posts narrow loss after Fed signals it’s in no hurry to cut rates

US Stock Market Highlights: The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Wednesday (June 18) modestly lower following the Federal Reserve’s latest policy update, where the central bank kept interest rates steady and Chair Jerome Powell signaled it would wait to see the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on inflation before proceeding on rates. The 30-stock Dow lost 44 points, or 0.10%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.03%, and the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.13%.

US Stock Market Highlights: The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Wednesday (June 18) modestly lower following the Federal Reserve’s latest policy update, where the central bank kept interest rates steady and Chair Jerome Powell signaled it would wait to see the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on inflation before proceeding on rates. The 30-stock Dow lost 44 points, or 0.10%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.03%, and the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.13%. The Fed left its key rate unchanged Wednesday in a range between 4.25%-4.5%, as markets expected. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a mixed bag of news for investors, as the central bank still signalled rate cuts this year while simultaneously hinting at a stagflationary threat. The policymakers forecast two more quarter-point cuts for the year, but they lowered the 2025 forecast for economic growth to just 1.4% and raised the core inflation outlook to 3.1%. Watch this space for all the live updates.