U.S. stocks dropped from near two-week highs on Wednesday following the Fed’s policy decision.
The Federal Reserve increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.75%-5% at its March FOMC meeting. During the press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the FOMC considered a pause at this meeting but the hike was supported by a strong consensus.
All the major sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with real estate and financials stocks recording the biggest losses on Wednesday.
The Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.37% to close at 12,567.15 on Wednesday, amid losses in shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
The S&P 500 fell 1.65%, while the Dow Jones lost 1.63% to 32,030.11 in the previous session.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) increased 4.1% to 22.26 points on Wednesday.
What is CBOE Volatility Index?
The CBOE Volatility Index, popularly known as VIX, is a measure of the equity market’s expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index call and put options.
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