Futures tied to the Dow Jones industrial average traded 23 points lower, or 0.1%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent. Traders had been expecting the central bank to raise interest rates by 0.75 percentage points and initially read the Fed’s statement as dodgy, sending stocks higher on Wednesday after the decision. Those gains were then reversed when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said it was “premature” to talk about a pause in rate hikes and that the terminal rate would likely be higher than previously stated. “We still have a ways to go and the incoming data from our last meeting suggests that the final level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected,” he said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday’s session 505 points lower, or 1.6%. The S&P 500 fell 2.5% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.4%. Markets will likely continue to slow until it becomes clear that inflation has cooled and the Fed has stopped moving higher rates. Any evidence that the US economy is not slowing as the central bank tightens policy will likely weigh on stocks. The next major report is the October non-farm payrolls, due on Friday. “You have a good number of jobs, in other words a good unemployment rate that’s not growing, then the market has a lot of problems,” Guy Adami, director of advisory advocacy at Private Advisor Group, told CNBC’s ” Fast Money.” Meanwhile, corporate earnings season continued, with Qualcomm, Roku and Fortinet falling sharply after reporting disappointing quarterly results and forward guidance. Correction: An earlier version misstated declines in Wednesday’s session.
