Wall Street stocks bounced Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pledged to take sufficient measures to contain inflation as the central bank enacted its biggest rate hike since 1994.
The US central bank raised the benchmark borrowing rate by 0.75 percentage points, bigger than the telegraphed 0.5-percentage-point increase after economic data in recent days showed inflation strengthening and consumer confidence weakening.
Powell said the Fed has the “tools” and the “resolve” to do what it takes to lower inflation from the highest level in more than 40 years, adding that the central bank could hike the benchmark interest rate by another 0.75 percentage points in July.
Near 1905 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.2 percent at 30,722.49.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.6 percent to 3,796.73, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.7 percent to 11,115.87.
Stocks have been under pressure for most of 2022 in expectation of monetary tightening, with markets falling especially sharply on Friday and Monday following the latest consumer price index report. — Agence France-Presse
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