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US markets end mostly in red amid Fed rate cut
Sep-18-2025

The US markets ended mostly in red on Wednesday owed to late trade volatility following the Federal Reserve's (Fed) widely expected announcement of its decision to lower interest rates by a quarter point. Besides, citing a shift in the balance of risks, Fed said it decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 4.0 percent to 4.25 percent. The latest projections from Fed officials also suggest they expect the central bank to lower rates two more times this year, with rates forecast in a range of 3.50 percent to 3.75 percent by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, traders may have been disappointed that Fed officials don't appear eager to cut interest aggressively, with only newly sworn in Fed Governor Stephen Miran preferring to lower rates by half a point at the latest meeting.

On the sectoral front, significant strength has been seen in Banking stocks, with the KBW Bank Index climbing by 1.3 percent to a record closing high. On the flip side, oil service stocks moved lower along with the price of crude oil, dragged the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 1.1 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 260.42 points or 0.57 percent to 46,018.32, while S&P 500 edged down 6.41 points or 0.1 percent to 6,600.35 and Nasdaq fell 72.63 points or 0.33 percent to 22,261.33.

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