us stock indexes were struggling for direction late wednesday afternoon seesawing between gains and losses after the federal reserve announced another expected sharp interest rate increase and signaled a higherthanexpected peak for rates the federal reserve increased its policy interest rate by 75 basis points to a target range of 3 to 325 on wednesday afternoon while penciling in another 125 basis points in rate hikes by year end which would bring the benchmark rate to a midpoint of 44 by the end of the year up from the prior estimate in june of 38 the central bank has swiftly raised borrowing costs from near zero earlier in the year as it strives to combat inflation that is currently 83 near multidecade highs investors are closely watching policy makers projections of monetary tightening in the socalled dot plot of interest rates for the rest of 2022 and the following years which should give them a glimpse to how high they will go in the future according to the statement the central bankers now see a meidan terminal rate of 46 in 2023 but dont see any rate cuts until 2024 meanwhilein updated forecasts the fed predicts the economy will grow at a meager 02 annual pace this year and a lackluster 12 next year  well below the outsized 57 gain in 2021 the unemployment rate meanwhile is forecast to rise to as high as 44 in 2023 and stay there through 2024 us stocks were volatile after the release with the dow jones industrial average down more than 200 points but three indexes then reversed gains an hour after the announcement we were all in the very first moment of the release and unhappy about long term forecast and now we are digesting the information and trying to see the situation today manageable said guido petrelli founder and ceo of merlin investor i assume it will not be just now but they will continue its volatility at least until the beginning of november seethe stock market has rallied on day of every fed ratehike decision in 2022 could it happen again today with inflation rising globally in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic about 90 central banks have raised interest rates this year in the the broadest tightening of monetary policy for 15 years this week alone the fed lifted its key rate by 75 basis points for a third time while the bank of england is predicted to boost its benchmark by 50 basis points and hikes are also expected in indonesia norway the philippines sweden and switzerland among countries also suppressing sentiment on wednesday was news that russian president vladimir putin had called for a partial military mobilization of the country to prosecute his attack on ukraine the announcement which included threats against the west raised fears of a further escalation in the conflict precious metals traded higher with gold for december delivery rising 460 or 03 to settle at 167570 an ounce on comex the ice us dollar index  a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals advanced 05 on wednesday energy prices slumped with us wti crude futures down 12 to settle at 8294 a barrel and the ice dutch ttf natural gas futures the continents benchmark down 06 to 193 euros per megawatt hour the euro fell 08 to 09890 pushing the dollar index back near its 20year peak the sharp rise in interest rates over recent months  and the prospect of more to come  has sparked a selloff in bonds and pushed benchmark government yields to 11year highs a move that is further pressuring stocks partly because it makes debt assets relatively more attractive correlations between treasury yields equities the us dollar and crypto are at the years highs noted analysts at qcp capital it is no doubt a sign that liquidity or the withdrawal of it is front and center as the main driver of all markets now the analysts said seefeds tough task history shows inflation takes average of 10 years to return to 2 central banks are demonstrating greater resolve to fighting inflation and increasingly willing to sacrifice growth to get there said nathan sheets global chief economist at citi in us economic data existinghome sales in the country fell 04 in august to 48 million the lowest level since may 2020 the national association of realtors said wednesday