: Stocks end mostly higher after Fed skips June rate hike but pencils in more this year

U.S. stocks finished mostly higher on Wednesday in a choppy session that saw the Fed leave rates steady in June, while penciling in another 50 basis points of potential hikes later this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA shed about 231 points, or 0.7%, ending near 33,980, according to preliminary FactSet data, or well off the session’s low of 33,783. The S&P 500 index SPX added about 3 points, or 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP closed 0.4% higher. “It’s just the idea that were are trying to get this right,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said about the potential mixed messaging of holding rates steady in June, while leaving the door open to more hikes later this year. Powell focused his comments in an afternoon press conference on the need to promote financial stability after a string of regional banks failed in March, while also keeping up the inflation fight until it’s on a clear path down to the central bank’s 2% annual target. Elsewhere, the policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury rate BX:TMUBMUSD02Y rose for a second day in a row to 4.707%, its highest level since March 9, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

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