Stock futures were little changed Wednesday evening as investors adjust to a new, sobering reality for financial markets.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 103 points or 0.2% higher. S&P futures increased by almost 0.2% Nasdaq 100 futures 0.1% added.

Stocks slumped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve dealt a major blow to the raging bull market, suggesting it would likely cut interest rates just twice next year, instead of the four cuts envisioned in its last forecast in September were. The central bank also cut its benchmark overnight interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, but the question now is what policymakers will do in 2025.

“Excessive positioning and sentiment left stocks vulnerable to a selloff,” Jeff Buchbinder, chief equity strategist at LPL Financial, said in response to Wednesday’s plunge. “The big rise in inflation expectations and the associated bond sell-off provided a convenient excuse. As technology support evaporated, no other groups could step in to fill this gaping gap.”

Chairman Jerome Powell didn’t offer much immediate comfort to investors. “We’re at 4.3% – that’s clearly hawkish and I think it’s a well-timed rate that allows us to continue to make progress on inflation while maintaining a strong labor market,” Powell said at a news conference afterward the Fed meeting and pointed out that interest rate cuts in recent months have allowed the central bank to be “more cautious as we consider further adjustments to our key interest rate.”

Ahead of Wednesday’s rate hike, Wall Street was betting that the Fed would remain more aggressive in cutting borrowing costs, which affects everything from what companies pay to raise capital to what consumers pay for it Paying to buy a new house or car.

But with the Fed’s revised outlook, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1,123.03 points, or 2.58%, to 42,326.87 – a 10-day decline, the longest decline since 1974, and putting the index on track for its worst weekly Performance since March 2023. The S&P 500 fell 2.95% to 5,872.16 and The Nasdaq Composite lost 3.56% to 19,392.69 as losses in the tech-heavy index widened towards the end of the session. The 30-stock Dow Jones and S&P 500 both posted their biggest daily losses since August as the unwinding of the yen carry trade rocked markets.

Treasury yields jumped on the Fed’s cautious outlook, putting further pressure on stocks. The 10-year Treasury yield rose more than 13 basis points to over 4.50%.

The CBOE volatility index, known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” also jumped, indicating increased uncertainty among investors about the direction of interest rates.

In after-hours trading Micron technology fell about 13% after the chipmaker reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter guidance.