Fed Ups Rates; Investors Ponder AI, Oil:
Stocks ended last week mixed as investors navigated the Fed’s rate decision, Treasury yields, oil prices, and the volatile AI trade.
The S&P 500 declined 0.09 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.72 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.70 percent. The MSCI EAFE Index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, skidded 1.32 percent.1,2
Sources: Source: Bloomberg Finance, L.P. (Performance data normalized 09/17/26 = 0)
Mixed Markets
Stocks opened lower to start the week as safety concerns tempered the artificial intelligence trade and oil prices rose. Markets slid again over the next session as the bellwether 10-year Treasury yield rose above 5 percent to a 19-year high.3,4
Markets steadied midweek as investors awaited the Fed’s decision on the final day of its September meeting. The Fed raised short-term interest rates by a quarter percentage point in a widely anticipated decision, reflecting inflation concerns. Stocks fell following the decision, but declines in the broader market were modest.5
Stocks rebounded Thursday, clawing back some losses from the prior session. Lower oil prices, falling Treasury yields, and advances in a handful of megacap tech stocks helped lift all three major market averages. But the relief rally stalled out a bit on Friday morning as Treasury yields rose again.6,7
Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Focus on the Fed
The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to raise interest rates, increasing the Fed Funds rate by a quarter percentage point to a target range of 3¾ to 4 percent. Of the 18 officials who submitted medium-term projections for the Fed’s so-called “dot-plot,” 16 penciled in at least one more adjustment this year. (The FOMC meets twice more before year-end.)7
In his post-meeting press conference, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said that “inflation is too high and has been for too long.” He added that despite expanding economic activity, “uncertainty remains elevated, owing in part to geopolitical developments,” and that the Fed’s decision supports a “timelier return” to its goal of 2 percent inflation.8,9
This Week: Key Economic Data
Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P.
This Week: Companies Reporting Earnings
Source: EarningsWhispers
Author
Gary Aiken
Chief Investment Officer
Concord Asset Management
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Footnotes and Sources
1WSJ.com, September 14, 2026
2Investing.com, September 14,, 2026
3CNBC.com, September 14, 2026
4CNBC.com, September 14, 2026
5CNBC.com, September 14, 2026
6WSJ.com, September 14, 2026
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