Planning Briefs

The Federal Reserve raised the target range for its benchmark interest rate by 0.25% on Wednesday to a range of 4.75%-5%, the highest since October 2007.

The decision by the 12 central bankers on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) had been highly anticipated since March 10, when a run by depositors at Silicon Valley Bank spread fears that a banking crisis could destabilize the U.S. economy.

The stock market reacted by falling sharply. Following the 2 p.m. EST release of a policy statement by the FOMC and the regularly scheduled 45-minute press conference after every meeting of Fed policymakers by Jerome Powell, chairman of the Fed’s Board of Governors, the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index declined by -1.65%.