US STOCKS-Wall Street slides as inflation, rates rise

NEW YORK, New York - A hike in official U.S. interest rates of 0.25 percent and a jump in inflation in the UK kept buyers at bay on Wall Street Wednesday, with major indices falling sharply in a late afternoon sell-off.

The Federal Reserves Open Market Committee said in raising rates by a quarter point after their traditional two month meeting on Wednesday that the Committee will be closely watching the information and assess the implications for monetary policy. The Committee anticipates that additional policy firming may be necessary in order to achieve a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to two percent over time. In February, inflation in the UK was 10.40 percent, well ahead of projections of 9.9 percent.

The Standard and Poor's 500 decreased 65.90 points or 1.65 percent to 3,936. The Dow Jones industrials fell by 530.49 points or 1.63 percent to 32,030. The Nasdaq Composite fell 190.15 points or 1.60 percent to 11,669. The euro gained ground against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday with the EURUSD pair up by 0.92 percent, at 1.0864, on foreign exchange markets in the late U.S. trading on Wednesday. The US dollar fell against the Japanese yen, with the USDJPY pair down by 0.99 percent, or 1.317, to 131.16.

The US dollar was up by 0.04 percent against the Canadian dollar to 1.3718, with the USDCAD pair up by 0.04 percent. The British pound gained strength against the U.S. dollar, with the pound up by 0.50 percent to 1.2277.

The US dollar fell against the Swiss franc, with the USDCHF pair down by 0.51 percent to 0.9175 in other currency pairs. The Australian dollar gained ground against the US dollar, gaining 0.35 percent, to 0.6689. The New Zealand dollar gained 0.56 percent against the U.S. dollar, with the NZDUSD pair trading at 0.6226.

The US dollar was traded against other major currencies on Wednesday.

The global stock markets went up on Wednesday, with several key indices hitting record highs. The Nikkei 225 in Japan led the gains, rising 1.93 percent to close at 27,466. 61, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 1.73 percent to 19,591. The KOSPI Composite Index in South Korea went up 1.20 percent, closing at 2,416. The FTSE 100 gained 0.41 percent in London to close at 7,566. 84, while the CAC 40 in France rose 0.26 percent to 7,131. The DAX PERFORMANCE-INDEX in Germany edged up 0.14 percent to close at 15,216. The ESTX 50 PR.EUR climbed by 0.34 percent, closing at 4,195. The BEL 20 in Belgium dropped 0.52 percent to 3,666 while the BEL 20 dropped in Belgium by 0.52 percent. In Asia-Pacific, the S&P ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.87 percent to close at 7,015. In Indonesia, the IDX Composite rose 1.20 percent to 6,691. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI in Malaysia edged up 0.39 percent to close at 1,412. The S&P NZX 50 INDEX GROSS in New Zealand gained by 0.48 percent to close at 11,586 on 04, while the S&P NZX 50 INDEX GROSS in New Zealand gained 0.48 percent. The MOEX Russia Index dropped by 0.19 percent to close at 2,222 in Russia. 51, while the S in India increased by 0.24 percent to close at 58,214. The STI Index in Singapore rose by 1.48 percent to close at 3,220. The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the stock market's expectation of volatility, dropped by 0.56 percent to close at 21.26.

It was a positive day for global stock markets, with several indices reaching new record highs amid a generally optimistic outlook. Some markets saw declines, suggesting continued volatility and uncertainty in the global economy.