Stocks and dollar rebound after Fed rate hike

The late afternoon sell off came despite a Federal Reserve interest rate hike and Chair Jerome Powell's hopes for an interest rate cut sometime this year.

Interest rate hikes would persist until inflation was tamed back to two percent, according to the FOMC Committee.

Powell said at a press conference after the FOMC decision, "I don't see us cutting rates this year if our outlook is true."

He said that if we see inflation come down much more quickly, that will be a factor in our policy setting.

Soon after the decision by the FOMC, the U.S. dollar began to move higher, pushing the euro to the 1.0900 level and the British pound below 1.2300. The Australian dollar had crumbled to be close to 0.7050. As the afternoon wore on, buyers began to weigh into the market.

If you were hoping for clear signs of an upcoming pause in interest rate hikes, you were left wanting. Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate, told Reuters on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve retained the phrase '' ongoing increases in their statement, leaving their options open depending on what upcoming economic data says.

The euro, which had approached 1.0900 at one point, rallied to touch 1.1001, retreated slightly to 1.0986 after approaching the U.S. close Wednesday. The British pound, which was below 1.2300 earlier, jumped to 1.2370 around the U.S. close.

The Swiss franc increased to 0.9085.

The Australian dollar rebounded to 0.7132. The Dow Jones went up hundreds of points before the rate decision was made. It was back in the black by the close.

The benchmark index closed at 34,092, up 6.92 points or 0.02 percent. The Nasdaq Composite surged 231.77 points or 2.00 percent to close Wednesday at 11,816. The Standard and Poor's 500 increased 42.61 points, or 1.05 percent, to 4,119.