US stocks drop after Fed’s decision

US stocks pulled back from session highs after the Fed announced its decision to raise rates, as widely expected.

The Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate to 0.5-0.75% on Wednesday by unanimous vote. Overall, main Wall Street indices retreated modestly following Fed’s decision. However, the impact was moderated as the move was highly anticipated. What came by surprise was the dot plot, which showed most members expect three hikes throughout 2017 versus two hikes seen in September’s meeting.

The Dow is down about 92 points, or 0.46% at 19,820. It had reached a high of 19,966, just 34 points shy from the never-before-seen milestone of 20,000. The S&P declined into Yellen’s speech, but managed to recover half of the losses, and it was last down 12 points, or 0.53%, at 2,259.The Nasdaq was down nearly 14 points, or 0.26%, at 5,449.