·         U.S. stocks sank Wednesday in a wild session after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark overnight lending rate for the fourth time this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 351.98 points and closed at its lowest level so far this year at 23,323.66, erasing a 380 point gain that came prior to the Fed decision. The broad S&P 500 index also closed at a 2018 low, falling 1.5 percent to finish at 2,506.96as technology and banks stocks rolled over. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.1 percent to 6,636.83, its own 2018 closing low with shares of Apple losing more than 3 percent.

The major indexes all hit intraday lows for the year as well.

·         Now the question is whether Powell’s message that the U.S. economy should be strong enough to stand on its own without further assistance from the Fed will be the catalyst that tumbles stocks to bear market levels.

·         “It takes away the idea that the Fed is a friend at this point,” said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.

“It has the potential (to push us into a bear market) especially if Powell and the other members of the FOMC continue to sound hawkish between now and the next meeting.”

·         European stocks were higher Wednesday, after Italy and the European Union reached a breakthrough on Rome’s 2019 budget plans and as traders geared up for the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy decision.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed 0.46 percent higher, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.