Fed raises interest rates over objections

The US Federal Reserve showed its independent streak on Wednesday when it announced an increase to a key interest rate despite opposition from Wall Street and US President Donald Trump.

The fourth increase of the year pushed the federal funds rate, the central bank's key overnight lending rate, to a range of 2.25 percent to 2.50 percent.

The Fed threw Wall Street a bone by saying there probably will be two rate increases in 2019, down from the three forecast in September, but the stock market reacted grouchily.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 351.98 points, or 1.49 percent, to 23,323.66; the S&P 500 lost 39.2 points, or 1.54 percent, to 2,506.96, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 147.08 points, or 2.17 percent, to 6,636.83.

"The FOMC is a lot more dovish today than it was in September — maybe not as dovish as the market would have liked, but the US (economic) data don't support the Fed throwing in the towel yet (on increases),'' said Roberto Perli, a partner at Cornerstone Macro LLC in Washington and a former Fed economist.

"The Fed is indicating that it's listening to the markets, it has respect for the markets, but it's not going to be ruled by the markets," said Greg Staples, co-head of Americas fixed income at DWS.

A statement issued after the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting said that the US economy "continues to perform well and no longer needs the Fed's support either through lower-than-normal interest rates or by maintaining of a massive balance sheet".

"The Committee judges that some further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate will be consistent with sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near the Committee's symmetric 2 percent objective over the medium term," the FOMC statement said.

Stocks initially seesawed after the statement but sellers took the upper hand after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell spoke at a news conference.

"Policy does not need to be accommodative," he said. "Broadly speaking, we don't look at any one market. We look at a really big range of financial conditions.

"What matters for the whole economy is material changes in a board range of financial conditions that are sustained for a period of time," he said. "Speaking in the abstract, some volatility doesn't probably leave a mark on the economy, so we look for that. So what we've seen here is a tightening."

On Tuesday, Trump, who appointed Powell, had tweeted his opposition to another rate increase: "I hope the people over at the Fed will read today's Wall Street Journal Editorial before they make yet another mistake. Also, don't let the market become any more illiquid than it already is."

"We're going to do our jobs the way we've always done them," Powell said when asked on Wednesday about White House comments.

The Journal, in opposing a rate hike, contended that there were signs that global growth was slowing and also noted the impact of the tariff standoff between the US and China.

The S&P 500 has sold off on all seven days the Fed has announced policy decisions during Powell's tenure, which began in February.

"Why are they continuing to do this given the volatility we have in the market? Why don't they sit and take a pause now?" said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at Oakbrook Investments.

Facebook shares fell 7.3 percent on Wednesday, their largest percentage decline since July. The New York Times reported that the social media giant allowed some companies far greater access to data than disclosed.

Shares of FedEx Corp, seen as an economic bellwether, sank 12.2 percent, the most in one day in 10 years, after the logistics company trimmed its 2019 forecast.

Contact the writer at?williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com

Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this story.