US Equities Fall Further

2026-03-18 18:44 By Andre Joaquim 1 min. read

US stocks fell further on Wednesday after the FOMC held interest rates unchanged and flagged a degree of concern on pro-inflationary risks.

The S&P 500 closed 1.4% lower, the Nasdaq 100 fell 1.3% while the Dow dropped 1.6%.

A large group of FOMC members projected no rate cuts for this year on concerns of tariffs and risks that higher energy prices would impact consumer inflation, aligning with rate futures showing skepticism that the Fed has room to cut.

This was magnified by an aggressively hot PPI released today.

Still, signs of a soft labor market balanced concerns in both sides of the Fed mandate.

Strikes in Iranian energy infrastructure triggered another increase in key energy prices and lifted yields, pressuring equities across the board.

Visa and Mastercard fell 3.1% and 3.7%, respectively, to set the pace for credit services, while B&G and Walmart fell over 2.5% each for a pessimistic session for defensive stocks.

Micron closed flat ahead of its earnings.



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