Stocks fell Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates on the back of a strengthening job market and surprised investors by increasing its forecast for rate hikes next year, the AP reports. The dollar and bond yields rose sharply. Utilities, real-estate investment trusts, and other high-dividend stocks at risk of defection by income investors heading back to bonds fell more than the rest of the market. Energy stocks dropped with the price of oil.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 71 points, or 0.4%, to 19,838. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 12 points, or 0.6%, at 2,259. The Nasdaq composite gave up 10 points, or 0.2%, to 5,453. Three stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. (More stock market stories.)