Stocks fall to session lows after Fed decision The major US stock averages briefly slid to their session lows Wednesday following the release of the Fed’s latest monetary policy announcement. The Dow was last down more than 300 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq trades last down 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively. Federal Reserve hikes by 25 basis points, but ‘ongoing’ expectations increases The Federal Reserve raised by 25 basis points, or 0.25 percentage point, matching investor expectations. The hike brings the Fed’s target range to 4.5%-4.75%, the highest level since 2007. In its statement, however, the Fed kept language noting that the FOMC still sees the need for “ongoing increases in the target range.” Market participants had been hoping for some softening of the phrase, but the statement, approved unanimously, kept it intact.— Jeff CoxWhere markets stand ahead of the FedHere’s a snapshot of where financial markets stand heading into the Fed announcement at 2 pm ET:( Numbers as of 1:45 pm ET)— Fred Imbert Potential winners from a Fed pause The Fed has been raising rates since March of last year, pressing the broader market, as it tries to fend off rising inflation. However, some of the stocks hardest hit by rate hikes could be big winners if the Fed hints at a pause. CNBC Pro looked back at the stocks that were hit the hardest in the five trading days after each of last year’s Fed rate hikes, starting with the first quarter point increase last March. Of those, we took the worst median performance within that five-day period for each of 2022′s seven rate hikes.Among those stocks are Paramount Global, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery.—Michelle Fox, Fred ImbertWhat to expect from the FedMarkets have priced in a near-100% certainty that the Federal Open Market Committee will announce a 0.25 percentage point interest rate increase to conclude its first policy meeting of 2023. What markets are unsure of is where the Fed goes from here. Traders are betting the central bank will hike a quarter point once more in March then stop, pause for several months, and then start cutting towards the end of the year. Conscious that the fight against inflation is far from over, Chairman Jerome Powell could push back on the idea of a looser Fed so soon in the future. —Jeff Cox