Selling Resumes On Wall Street Ahead of Fed's Rate Decisions On Wednesday

Barry Adams
18 Mar, 2025
New York City

Stock market indexes on Wall Street resumed selling after two days of gains, and investors shifted their focus to the monetary policy meeting. 

The S&P 500 index decreased 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2% ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision on Wednesday. 

The Fed is widely anticipated to leave its fed funds rate range unrevised between 4.25% and 4.50%, and investors are awaiting accompanying projections on jobless rate, economic growth, and interest rate levels for the year.

The S&P 500 flirted with correction territory, which is considered a decline of 10% from the recent high, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down about 11.5% from the mid-February high. 

Both benchmark indexes recovered some of the lost ground over the last four weeks, but they are in losses for 2025, following the chaotic trade policy approach chosen by the Trump administration. 

Investors are worried that the Fed will delay its future rate cuts amid expectations of higher inflation and slower economic growth after the Trump administration ramped up its tariff war with Canada, Mexico, and China. 

Moreover, the Trump administration has announced additional tariffs starting April 4 on goods shipped by Japan, South Korea, the European Union, and India. 

 

Commodities, Currencies, Indexes, Yields

The S&P 500 index decreased 1.1% to 5,615.69, the Nasdaq Composite edged down 1.8% to 17,491.06, and the Russell 2000 index was down 1% to 2,047.22.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.04%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.30%, and 30-year Treasury bonds advanced to 4.61%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.38 to $71.45 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged higher by $0.07 to $4.09 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $29.87 to $3,029.25 an ounce, and silver edged up by $0.28 to $33.03.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, increased 0.14 to 103.51 and traded at a two-year high.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Alphabet Inc. decreased 3.8% to $157.91, and the parent company of Google Search announced it would acquire cloud security company Wiz for $32 billion.

The latest acquisition is the largest purchase made by the company in its history.