Here Are Wednesday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Credicorp, Dutch Bros, Expedia, Hartford Financial Services, Group, Meritage Homes, Patchex, Yum! Brands, and More

The Fed raised rates 25 basis points today, pushing the funds rate to 4% as major indices sold off in anticipation.

Brent Crude surged to $109 and WTI hit $106 as renewed Middle East fighting and a Saudi pipeline shutdown drove energy prices higher.

Bitcoin dropped nearly 4% to $76,180 after the Clarity Act crypto regulation bill failed in the Senate by a single vote, 50-49.

Futures are trading higher as the Federal Reserve's reckoning day has arrived. Interest rate futures tracked by CME FedWatch show a 92% chance of a 25-basis-point increase in the Fed funds rate today. That will push the funds rate to 3.75% to 4%. In addition, market watchers expect two more rate hikes over the next year to tackle sticky inflation, exacerbated by the war with Iran and rising oil prices.

Anticipating a rate increase today, all major indices finished lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing at 25,981, down 0.78%. The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 0.87% to 2,867, while the S&P 500 closed Tuesday at 7,585, down 0.45%. The Dow Jones Industrial finished the session at 52,093, down 0.63%. Market analysts will be watching Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's prepared statement this afternoon for clues on when and how many more interest rate increases to follow.

Interest rates soared again on Tuesday, and that was a major reason for more selling in equities. The 30-year bond closed at 5.37%, the highest in over 20 years, while the benchmark 10-year note closed at 5% after trading as high as 5.04% earlier in the session. That is the highest since July of 2007. Since the bond vigilantes have done much of the work Chairman Warsh needed to do, many expect he may be patient before another increase, as much of the current inflationary pressures are due to rising energy prices.

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Prices across the energy complex were higher again Tuesday as the renewed fighting in the Middle East and the shutdown of the Saudi pipeline continued to weigh on the sector. At the final bell, Brent Crude closed at $108.60, up 2.79%, while West Texas Intermediate closed at $105.80, up 4.37%. Natural gas also had a solid day, finishing at $ 2.94, up 1.42%.