Stock futures were sharply lower Thursday following the Federal Reserve’s latest policy update.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 240 points, or 0.7%. S&P 500 futures dropped 1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 1.3%.
Tesla shares fell more than 2% in the premarket after CEO Elon Musk sold a chunk of his stake in the company.
On Tuesday, the Dow fell 142 points, while the S&P 500 declined 0.61% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.76%.
The major indexes reacted negatively as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s latest comments following a boost to its overnight borrowing rate. The central bank said it will continue hiking rates through 2023 and projected a higher-than-expected terminal rate of 5.1%. With Wednesday’s half a percentage point hike, the targeted range for rates is currently 4.25% to 4.5%, which is the highest in 15 years.
“The Fed just put a roadblock in front of Santa’s sleigh,” said Sylvia Jablonski, CEO and chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs.
She also noted the tone of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who in speech Wednesday afternoon sounded “strict” and clear that he “doesn’t have a plan to pause or take a reversal path.”
“It’s going to be higher for longer and monetary policy is going to be more restrictive than thought,” Jablonski said. “The market is going to be handicapped by Fed policy for sometime longer. Though we like the news and like seeing CPI prints like the last one that led to a short-lived rally, this is going to give us some…
