Wall Street closed in a clear decline, the Dow Jones had its longest cold streak in half a century

Stateside New York’s stock markets closed in a distinctly cold state on Wednesday after the country’s central bank, the Fed, said it would halve the number of policy rate cuts planned for next year from four to two.

The industrial index Dow Jones closed down 2.6 percent. CNN’s by it was already the tenth trading day in a row when the index was in the red at the end of trading. According to the news channel, the slump is the longest since 1974, when the Dow Jones slipped on 11 consecutive trading days.

The broad-based S&P 500 plunged 3.0 percent, and the technology-focused Nasdaq plunged 3.6 percent.

According to stock research firm Briefing.com, Wall Street’s reaction to Wednesday’s interest rate decision suggests that investors are grappling with the likelihood that interest rates will remain elevated for longer than expected.

Investment research company CFRA Research’s Sam Stovall, on the other hand, estimates that Wednesday’s bills indicate that the Fed was able to surprise the market.

Fed lowered the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25–4.50 percent on Wednesday, as expected. It was the third consecutive reduction in the key interest rate.

The Fed announces 2.5 percent as the inflation target level for next year. Previously, it was 2.1 percent. Interest rate cuts are also predicted to be lower than previously predicted. For next year, the Fed predicts two 0.25 percentage point cuts to the key interest rate. Previously, there were four interest rate cuts in the forecasts.

According to Central Bank Governor Jerome Powell, inflation has eased considerably, but still remains higher than the targeted two percent. According to Powell, there is no need to curb or tighten inflation now.

“I am very optimistic about the economic development, and we are in a good position now,” said Powell.