U.S. stocks on Wednesday saw a third straight session of wild trading as the Federal Reserve gave an update on its plans to raise interest rates to address inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both finished the session lower after trading well into positive territory for most of the day, while the Nasdaq Composite eased off its highs to close little changed.
Stocks initially rose following the Fed's post-policy meeting announcement that the central bank was ready to increase its benchmark short-term borrowing rate by a quarter-percentage-point soon, which market participants expected.
The central bank also signaled in a separate statement that it would begin shrinking its balance sheet after hiking rates.
However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell in a subsequent press conference said there was "quite a bit of room" to raise interest rates without affecting the labor market. He added that prices could keep running higher as "inflation risks are still to the upside."
