US: Stocks Tumbled After Fed’s Third Rate Cut

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates by a quarter point. This is the third rate cut in the year since it began to lower borrowing costs in September. The US stocks tumble to one of their worst days of the year after the Fed announced the cut.

The target range has come from 4.25% to 4.5% with the latest cut. Fed officials released projections on Wednesday showing the median expectation among them is for two more cuts to the federal funds rate in 2025, or half a percentage point’s worth.

The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks tumbled 4.4%. The S&P fell 2.9% (178.45 points) to 5872.16. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,123.03 to 42,326 and the Nasdaq fell 716.37 to 19,392.69.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the Central Bank would be looking for progress on inflation, saying, ‘We have been moving sideways on 12-month inflation.’