Fed Lifts Rates, Signals More Next Year

The Federal Reserve wraps up a two-day meeting Wednesday with new economic forecasts, a policy statement and a quarterly press conference from Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would raise its benchmark short-term interest rate for the first time in a year and expects to lift it faster than previously projected in the coming year.

The Dow has taken a 217-point trip this afternoon in the wake of the Fed’s announcement of an interest-rate increase, first rising to an all-time intraday high of 19966 before reversing course and falling as low as 19749 a bit more than an hour later.

Then came a rally that saw it get back to 19875, but that effort appears to have exhausted itself in the final minutes.

The Fed’s hawkish tone has sent the dollar toward its highest level since 2002 against a basket of 16 peers. The WSJ Dollar Index is up 0.8% to 91.12, which would mark its highest closing value in over 14 years.

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