Dow skids 500 points, stocks end sharply lower after Fed increases rates and signals restrictive steps for longer

U.S. stocks gave up earlier gains to end sharply lower Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve fired off its fourth rate increase of 75 basis points in a row and signaled that monetary policy could stay restrictive for longer than earlier anticipated. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.55% tumbled about 506 points, or 1.6%, to end near 32,146, after briefly topping 33,071 at the session’s high, according to FactSet. The S&P 500 index SPX, -2.50% skid 2.5% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -3.36% closed 3.4% lower, after the Fed increased its policy rate by 0.75 percentage points to a range of 3.75% to 4%. That marks its highest level for the benchmark rate in 15 years. Stocks were largely holding up until Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in an afternoon news briefing, said that it was “very premature” to talk about a pause in raising interest rates.