Wall Street futures are pointing higher Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since 2023.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.5% and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.2% in early trading, recovering from overnight losses as falling crude oil prices pulled Treasury yields lower.

### The Fed’s first hike in three years

On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 to raise the federal funds rate by a quarter point, to a target range of 3.75%-4%. It was the Fed’s first rate increase since 2023. In its statement, the central bank said “inflation remains elevated” and that “today’s policy action will support a timelier return to the Committee’s 2 percent goal.” [Federal Reserve, FOMC statement, September 16, 2026]

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, in his post-meeting press conference, pointed to economic strength, a capex boom and geopolitical pressure as the forces pushing yields — and prices — higher. Updated projections showed most officials expect one more hike before year-end, followed by a hold in 2027.

Stocks initially extended their gains on the news, but Warsh’s remarks tipped the mood. By the close, the Dow had fallen 1.07% and the S&P 500 0.45%, with breadth turning ugly: roughly 61% of stocks fell against 36% that rose. DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach told CNBC there is “virtually no chance that this is the peak of the Fed funds rate.”

The rate path is complicated by a softening labor market. The US jobs report misses badly released in July already raised doubts about whether hiring could hold up under a hawkish Fed, a tension that has only grown since.

### Trump attacks the FOMC, spares Warsh

President Trump kept up the pressure on the central bank Thursday. He told reporters he still trusts Warsh personally but blasted the rest of the committee as “very hostile, very politicized.” On Truth Social, he demanded the Fed “LOWER THE INTEREST RATES... AND FAST,” arguing rates should be “1%, or even lower.” Trump slams the FOMC

The dollar rallied to a seven-week high against the euro on the hike, with EUR/USD sliding as low as $1.1456 before paring losses. Traders are also watching the pound and the yen, with both the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan due to announce their own rate decisions later Thursday.

### Oil retreats, easing the pressure on yields

Crude oil, a major driver of this year’s inflation scare amid the US-Iran war and the disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, eased again this week. West Texas Intermediate fell 1.8% to $103.90 a barrel Wednesday after Saudi Arabia moved to route additional crude through Oman, easing fears about the scale of the Middle East supply disruption.

Lower oil prices help explain why the two-year Treasury yield, the maturity most sensitive to Fed policy, eased slightly Thursday to 4.72% after touching its highest level since 2024 in the immediate wake of the hike, with the 10-year and 30-year yields also easing. New York Fed President John Williams struck a more reassuring tone than his boss, saying inflation is continuing to trend down — comments that are helping steady futures this morning, alongside a rally in Asian equities overnight. Warsh’s own hawkish framing, first previewed at Jackson Hole, remains the bigger swing factor for how far this rate cycle goes.

### What to Watch for the Open

  • Bank of England: a rate decision is due Thursday, with markets expecting a hold at 3.75%.
  • Bank of Japan: the two-day policy meeting concludes Friday, with markets pricing roughly 63% odds of a hike from the current 0.75%, the highest level since 1995.
  • Gold: trading near record territory above $4,300 an ounce as investors hedge against a more hawkish-for-longer Fed.
  • Bitcoin: hovering near $76,000 after the Senate on Tuesday failed to advance the Clarity Act, a crypto-market regulation bill.