Stocks Tumble in Volatile Trading After Fed Hikes Rates Stocks fell in volatile trading Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised rates by three-quarters of a point and forecast more sizable rate hikes in its fight against inflation, actions widely expected by traders. The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 522.45 points, or 1.7%, to wrap up Wednesday trading at 30,183.78. The SP 500 let go of 66 points, or 1.7%, to 3,789.93. The NASDAQ Composite fell 204.86 points, or 1.8%, to 11,220.19. With the SP 500 down more than 8% in the past month and 18% for 2022 heading into Wednesday’s Fed actions, stocks were already pricing in an aggressive tightening campaign by the Fed that could push the economy into a recession. The Fed raised rates by 0.75 percentage point, or 75 basis points, as was widely expected, and said it expects its so-called terminal rate to reach 4.6% to fight persistently high U.S. inflation. That’s the rate at which the central bank will end its tightening regime. The central bank also indicated that it plans to stay aggressive, hiking rates to 4.4% by next year.