- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- With EU funding, Tunisian farmer revives parched village
- Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- Three million UK children living below poverty line: study
- China's Jia brings film spanning love, change over decades to Busan
- Paying out disaster relief before climate catastrophe strikes
- Chinese shares drop on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- SE Asian summit seeks progress on Myanmar civil war
- How climate funds helped Peru's women beekeepers stay afloat
- Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded as wars rage
- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
- Alonso, Manaea shine as 'Miracle Mets' blitz Phillies
- Harris, Trump trade blows in US election media blitz
- Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Mexico president rules out new 'war on drugs'
- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
US stocks rally, dollar retreats as Fed lifts interest rates
Wall Street stocks rallied and the dollar retreated Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced a large 50 basis points interest rate increase but ruled out an even bigger hike for the foreseeable future.
The decision -- which follows weeks of anticipation and speculation as Fed officials have vowed a tough response to inflation -- came as European officials proposed a gradual ban on Russian crude, lifting oil prices.
With inflation at the highest rate in four decades, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sent a message directly to the American people, expressing concern for the pain caused by rising prices, and pledging to use all available tools to bring them down.
Wednesday's interest rate hike, the biggest since 2000, was coupled with a move to begin reducing the central bank's bond holdings from June 1, marking the Fed's most aggressive steps so far to counter inflation.
Powell said half-percentage point increases "should be on the table at the next couple of meetings," but added that a three-quarter point increase "is not something the committee is actively considering."
Stocks rallied off the remarks as Powell also expressed confidence the US central bank could engineer a "soft landing" that tames inflation without sending the economy into a recession.
Major US indices powered about three percent higher, while the dollar retreated against the euro and other currencies.
Art Hogan, strategist at National Securities, said the Fed's decision met expectations but contained "no hawkish surprise," adding that stocks could push higher in the coming sessions.
Some analysts have viewed the stock market as positioned for a potential rally after suffering deep losses in April amid worries over the Fed.
The central bank's announcement followed data showing slowing growth in the US services sector and lackluster private-sector hiring that reflected limited labor capacity. The report comes ahead of Friday's closely-watched government jobs data.
In earlier trading, European stocks closed down, after a broadly downbeat session in Asia, although key bourses including Shanghai and Tokyo remained shut.
Oil prices rebounded sharply after the European Commission proposed a gradual ban on Russian crude over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The Fed announcement is due one day before the Bank of England is also predicted to deliver a hike.
India's central bank unexpectedly ramped up its key rate by 40 basis points to 4.4 percent on Wednesday.
Policymakers are seeking to tackle runaway prices but risk damaging global economic recovery from the pandemic.
Investor sentiment also remains dogged by the fallout from Russia's ongoing Ukraine invasion, which has fueled bumper gains for many raw materials including crude.
- Key figures at around 2100 GMT -
New York - Dow: UP 2.8 percent at 34,061.06 (close)
New York - S&P 500: UP 3.0 percent at 4,300.17 (close)
New York - Nasdaq: UP 3.2 percent at 12,964.86 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,493.45 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 13,970.82 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.2 percent at 6,395.68 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,724.99 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 20,869.52 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday
Brent North Sea crude: UP 4.9 percent at $110.14 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 5.3 percent at $107.81 per barrel
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0625 from $1.0521 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2632 from $1.2499
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.06 pence from 84.18 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 129.05 yen from 130.14 yen
P.Stevenson--AMWN