The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 82.05 points, or 0.23 percent, to 35,520.12. The S&P 500 lost 0.71 points, or 0.02 percent, to 4,566.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 17.27 points, or 0.12 percent, to 14,127.28.
Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with technology and materials leading the laggards by losing 1.30 percent and 0.28 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services and industrials led the gainers by rising 2.65 percent and 0.66 percent, respectively.
U.S. stocks finished mixed after the Fed concluded a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. The U.S. central bank raised interest rates to the highest level since 2001, lifting the target range for the Fed's benchmark federal funds rate to 5.25 to 5.5 percent. It marked the 11th interest rate hike since March 2022.
The Fed will continue to take a data-dependent approach in determining the extent of additional policy firming that may be appropriate, said Fed Chair Jerome Powell at a press conference, as investors struggled to find clues about the likelihood of further rate hikes.
"Paradoxically, today's Fed meeting was one of the most certain and uncertain of the cycle," said Gurpreet Gill, global fixed income macro strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, in an interview with MarketWatch. "However, investors remain divided on whether this marks the last increase in the current tightening campaign."
The last thing policymakers want is for investors to perceive this to be the end of the tightening process, but that will be a very tough message to get across, particularly in the absence of fresh forecasts, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, a supplier of online multi-asset trading services.
Meanwhile, investors were digesting more corporate earnings on Wednesday, with big tech names in focus.
Microsoft shares dipped 3.76 percent after issuing quarterly revenue guidance that fell short of analysts' expectations. Shares of Alphabet advanced 5.78 percent, driven by stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Meta Platforms and eBay reported their numbers after market close.
"Big tech earnings have been very Darwinian, and investors are only rewarding the companies that truly post strong results," said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at The Bahnsen Group, in an interview with Bloomberg.
"After extreme gains so far this year in big tech stocks, we have moved to a phase where each company's stock price is very non-correlated to one another," he said.
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