On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, a television station broadcast remarks by U.S. Federal Reserve Board Member Kevin Warsh speaking after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in the chambers of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, USA.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
If the stock market is any report card, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh did not end his first policy meeting on a high note.
of S&P500 Shares fell 1.2% in Wednesday trading, with losses widening during and after Warsh’s press conference to become chairman.
This is the worst performance for the composite index on the first Fed Day under a new chairman since 1994, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
S&P 500, 1 day
Indeed, only three other new Fed leaders were appointed during this period: Ben Bernanke, Jerome Powell, and Janet Yellen. The S&P 500 closed lower in the first Fed meeting of these chairmen, but none by as much as Wednesday.
The Bespoke figures date back to 1994, because before that year the central bank had not formally announced its interest rate target. As chairman, Greenspan led the way.
Some investors took Mr. Warsh’s focus on achieving stable price growth as a sign that future rate cuts may be less forthcoming than previously expected. The Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, as expected by most markets, despite clear calls for rate cuts from President Donald Trump, who appointed Mr. Warsh.
“He’s absolutely said he’s going to achieve price stability,” Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “That means…we won’t have the kind of easy monetary policy that everyone thought Chairman Warsh would do in the first quarter of this year, when everyone was expecting rate cuts.”
In fact, traders are starting to expect the opposite scenario after multiple Fed officials hinted at the possibility of raising interest rates this year. Federal funds futures indicate the central bank could raise rates as early as October.
of Dow Jones Industrial Average It fell 500 points on Wednesday, giving up its gains from before the Fed’s decision.
Warsh’s debut on Wednesday also provided a clear glimpse of what the “systemic change” he promised the central bank would look like. He significantly scaled back the closely followed Fed meeting statements and announced a task force focused on overhauling central bank operations.
“Investors will ultimately have to wait and see what the task force brings, but one thing is clear right now,” said Josh Jamner, senior investment strategy analyst at ClearBridge Investments. “A new chapter for the Fed has begun.”
—CNBC’s Yun Li contributed to this report.
