Stocks were little changed in the lead-up to Wednesday afternoon's policy statement from the Federal Reserve. But the main indexes took a decisive turn higher after the central bank reiterated its forecast for three rate cuts this year.
Most of Wall Street expected the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged this time around and it did just that. The burning questions for investors and economists, however, were how many rate cuts the central bank expects for this year – and when those cuts will begin, particularly after a recent batch of hotter-than-expected inflation data.
