Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on September 16, 2026 in New York City, USA.
Gina Moon | Reuters
Stock futures rose Wednesday evening after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike in three years sold off the market.
futures It rose 72 points (0.1%), the same level as the Dow Jones Industrial Average. S&P500 futures rose 0.2%, Nasdaq 100 futures Added 0.4%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.87% and the TOPIX rose 0.71%. The Kospi rose 1% and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.57%. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.16%.
Generac Shares rose more than 30% in after-hours trading after Amazon received up to $340 million in stock buyback warrants. The warrants are part of an agreement in which Generac will supply Amazon with backup generators for its data centers.
In normal trading, blue chip stocks Dow It fell more than 630 points, or 1.2%, dragged down by financial services names. The market-wide S&P 500 index fell 0.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index closed slightly lower.
In a widely anticipated move, the Fed raised the overnight federal funds rate by a quarter of a point on Wednesday afternoon, bringing its target range to 3.75% to 4%. Policymakers also indicated that Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said inflation remained too high and suggested further rate hikes could occur later this year.
In fact, the latest consumer price index for August rose 3.4%, with oil prices above $100 per barrel.
“The bigger question now is whether this is the end of this rate hike or whether this is the start of a new tightening cycle,” said Steve Rick, chief economist at TrueStage.
He added: “Rising oil prices due to continued conflict in the Middle East could keep inflation rising, but as monetary policy works with long and volatile lags, further rate hikes will put further pressure on consumers and businesses already facing higher borrowing costs.” “The Fed should give the Fed time to work on this increase before deciding how much additional restraint is needed.”
Investors are now looking to Thursday’s economic data for further clues about the health of the economy.
Weekly unemployment claims data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Traders are also monitoring housing starts in August, which could provide insight into how rising borrowing costs are affecting home construction.
