NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks sank to their second-worst loss of the year after the Federal Reserve signaled that it may deliver fewer interest rates cuts in 2025 than earlier thought. The S&P 500 dropped 2.9% Wednesday to pull further from its all-time high set a couple weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 1,100 points, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 3.6%. Fed officials released projections showing they’re penciling in just two cuts to interest rates next year, instead of the four they were projecting a few months ago. Treasury yields ramped higher to add pressure on the stock market.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are tumbling toward their worst day in four months after the Federal Reserve hinted Wednesday it may deliver fewer of the cuts to interest rates that Wall Street loves than earlier thought.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.6% to pull further from its all-time high set a couple weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 961 points, or 2.2%, with less than half an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 3.5%.
The Fed said Wednesday it’s cutting its main interest rate for a third time this year, continuing the sharp turnaround begun in September when it started lowering rates from a two-decade high to support the job market. That cut, though, was widely expected.
The bigger question centers on how much more the Fed will cut next year. A lot is riding on it, particularly after expectations for a series of cuts in 2025 helped the U.S. stock market set an all-time high at least 57 times in 2024.
Fed officials released projections on Wednesday showing the median expectation among them is for two more cuts to the federal funds rate in 2025, or half a percentage point's worth. That's down from the four cuts expected just three months ago.
“We are in a new phase of the process,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after the central bank quickly eased its main interest rate by a full percentage point to a range of 4.25% to 4.50% since September.
Asked why Fed officials are looking to slow their cuts, Powell pointed to how the job market looks to be performing well overall, recent inflation readings have picked up and other uncertainties that will require policy makers to react to upcoming, to-be-determined changes in the economy. While lower rates can offer a boost to the economy by making it cheaper to borrow and boosting prices for investments, they can also offer more fuel for inflation.
Powell said some Fed officials, but not all, are also trying to incorporate uncertainties inherent in a new administration coming into the White House. Worries are rising along Wall Street that President-elect Donald Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could further spur inflation, along with economic growth.
“When the path is uncertain, you go a little slower," Powell said. It's "not unlike driving on a foggy night or walking into a dark room full of furniture. You just slow down.”
One official, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, thought the central bank should not have even cut rates this time around. She was the lone vote against Wednesday's rate cut.
The reduced expectations for 2025 rate cuts sent Treasury yields rising in the bond market, ramping up the pressure on the stock market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.49% from 4.40% late Tuesday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, climbed to 4.35% from 4.25%.
On Wall Street, stocks of companies that can feel the most pressure from higher interest rates fell to some of the worst losses.
Real-estate owners in the S&P 500 fell 3.6%, for example, for one of the largest losses among the 11 sectors that make up the index.
Stocks of smaller companies also did poorly. Many need to borrow to fuel their growth, making them potentially more vulnerable to higher interest rates, and the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks fell 3.4%. That was nearly double the S&P 500's fall.
Elsewhere on Wall Street. General Mills dropped 3% despite reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. The maker of Progresso soups and Cheerios said it will increase its investments in brands to help them grow, which pushed it to cut its forecast for profit this fiscal year.
On the winning end of Wall Street, Jabil jumped 5.3% to help lead the market after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The electronics company also raised its forecast for revenue for its full fiscal year.
Nvidia, the superstar responsible for a chunk of Wall Street’s rally to records in recent years, slipped 0.9%. It had dropped more than 12% from its record set last month and fallen in eight of the nine previous days as its big momentum slowed.
In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 edged up by less than 0.1% after data showed inflation accelerated to 2.6% in November, its highest level in eight month. The Bank of England is also meeting on interest rates this week and will announce its decision on Thursday.
In Japan, where the Bank of Japan will wrap up its own policy meeting on Friday, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.7%. That was despite a 23.7% jump for Nissan Motor Corp., which said it was in talks on closer collaboration with Honda Motor Co., though no decision had been made on a possible merger. Honda Motor’s stock lost 3%.
Nissan, Honda and Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors Corp. agreed in August to share components for electric vehicles like batteries and to jointly research software for autonomous driving to adapt better to dramatic changes in the auto industry.
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AP Writer Zimo Zhong contributed.
