Fed Meeting Results: What to Expect for Interest Rates

The Federal Reserve is holding its March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting today and tomorrow, leaving investors wondering what will be announced after it ends. The Fed will release the results of the meeting at around 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday and there are no interest rate cuts expected.

This shouldn’t be too surprising as all of the latest economic data has pointed toward the Fed leaving interest rates untouched in its March meeting. This comes after it cut interest rates twice late in 2024. The latest expert predictions point toward two interest rate cuts in 2025, likely in the latter half of the year.

What This Means for the Stock Market

Of course, investors aren’t receptive to the idea of no interest rate cuts in March, even if they know this will likely be the case. This has the major stock indices down today. The S&P 500 (SPX) is down 1.24%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is slipping 0.83%, and the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) is dipping 1.82% as of this writing.

The stock market will likely suffer another drop tomorrow after the Fed meeting results are announced. However, there is a small chance that the market rebound from today’s loss if Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments are more positive than expected.

How to Play the Stock Market Ahead of the Fed Meeting

Investors will want to keep an eye on attractive stocks that they are interested in taking stakes in leading up to the Fed meeting results. With a selloff likely, stock prices will likely drop tomorrow, offering a potential buying opportunity for investors. Some stocks worth following are Meta Platforms (META), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA), and Nvidia (NVDA).

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