--- title: The Federal Reserve Votes To Raise Interest Rates in March 2018, As Expected description: market commentary, Federal Reserve just ended FOMC meeting, first such meeting under Jerome Powell, voted to raise federal funds rate target by 25 basis points, move was widely expected, economic growth and inflation picking up, two more rate hikes likely in 2018, session expected to end with gains image: https://investor.valueline.com/hubfs/VL%20Blog%20Images/Financial_3140396_200x140.jpg --- [![The Value Line Blog](https://investor.valueline.com/hubfs/VL%20Blog%20Images/vl_blog_header.png)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog) [Market Commentary](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/market-commentary) # The Federal Reserve Votes To Raise Interest Rates in March 2018, As Expected March 21, 2018 The Federal Reserve has just ended its latest FOMC meeting, and the first such gathering under the stewardship of Jerome Powell, and voted to raise the federal funds rate target by 25 basis points. The move to the higher rate level had been widely expected, with nearly 95% of those on the Street expressing an opinion having suggested such a course was likely. Moreover, the central bank also indicated that economic growth was picking up, as was inflation, and that it would likely increase interest rates another two times this year. The Fed suggested that it narrowly missed indicating that three more hikes would be forthcoming. However, it did raise the number of likely interest-rate increases in 2019 from two to three. Still further hikes were implied for 2020. Importantly, Wall Street liked what it heard, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, up some 130 points prior to the FOMC statement, quickly jumped another 100 points on the news. The financial stocks were the main beneficiaries of this move. All of the indexes sprinted to the day's highs just after the Fed announcement. The Street tends to like the Fed's greater transparency these days, so the positive reception was not a big surprise. All told, we would expect the session to end with gains, although there could be some back-and-forth movement as the afternoon winds down in snowy New York City this afternoon. — Harvey S. Katz, CFA *At the time of this article's writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.* [![Register now for our free One Stock to Buy webinar](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2532383/5a80130b-f0ce-4bd8-acbd-f077f2232ec5.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2532383/5a80130b-f0ce-4bd8-acbd-f077f2232ec5) ### Popular Posts Search Search Blog ### Topics - [Investing 101 (2)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/investing-101) - [Market Commentary (37)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/market-commentary) - [Stock Highlights (390)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/stock-highlights) - [Stock Market Today (2071)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/stock-market-today) Copyright 2026 Value Line, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factual material is obtained from sources believed to be reliable and is provided without warranties of any kind. VALUE LINE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS HEREIN OR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES ARISING FROM ANY USE OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. This blog is strictly for subscriber's own, non-commercial, internal use. No part of it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any printed, electronic or other form, or used for generating or marketing any printed or electronic publication, service or product. Officers, directors, or employees of Value Line, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and EULAV Asset Management, may own stocks that are featured in this email. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or to give individual investment advice. Value Line, the Value Line logo, The Most Trusted Name in Investment Research, “Smart research. Smarter investing.”, The Value Line Investment Survey, Timeliness, and Safety are trademarks or registered trademarks of Value Line, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries.