Wall Street Mixed as Financials Drag After Fed Rate Hike<br />NEW YORK — The S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Wednesday pressured by the financial sector after the Federal Reserve announced a widely expected interest rate hike<br />but kept its rate outlook for coming years even as it projected faster U. S. economic growth.<br />Shortly before the Fed news, congressional Republicans said they had reached a deal on tax legislation<br />and U. S. President Donald Trump said he would back a corporate tax rate of 21 percent<br />The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80.63 points, or 0.33 percent, to end at 24,585.43, the S&P 500 lost 1.26 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,662.85<br />and the Nasdaq Composite added 13.48 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,875.80.<br />Investors were also keeping a sharp eye on progress in the Republicans’ push for a U. S. tax law overhaul that would involve a corporate tax cut.<br />The quarter-percentage-point rise in the overnight lending rate, which marked the third hike this year, came along<br />with an increase to the Fed’s 2018 gross domestic product growth forecast to 2.5 percent from 2.1 percent.
