Another Fed day is in the books, and the Fed Funds target rate is now 50 bps higher than it was yesterday. In tonight’s Closer, we will provide further commentary on the content of the FOMC’s statement, SEP, Fed Chair Powell’s presser, and the market reaction. With the S&P 500 finishing the day down 0.61%, today marked the third decline on a Fed day in a row. That is the longest streak of consecutive declines on Fed days since the three meetings ending July of last year. Looking at the price action of the S&P over the past three meetings, today basically stuck to the script. Whereas the index traded higher throughout most of the session leading up to the release of the policy decision, it plummeted when the statement hit the tape. That drop brought the index into the red on the day in a similar way to the September meeting. Declines kept on coming until shortly after Powell took the podium. From there, the S&P 500 rebounded, even pivoting back into the green briefly around the time of the conclusion of the presser. While it did not go on to end the day at the lows of the day like the past couple of meetings, Powell’s presser that pumped stocks back into the green was not long-lasting as the S&P dipped back into the red in the final hour of trading.  

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