Bernanke & Co. increases lending rates to 5.25%

Finally, the much awaited decision regarding the interest rates has ended. The Federal bank has increased the lending interest rate to 5.25% i.e. a quarter percent increase. The Fed has increased its interest rate for the 17th time since its start in January 2001.

"The extent and timing of any additional firming that may be needed to address these [inflation] risks will depend on the evolution of the outlook for both inflation and economic growth, as implied by incoming information," the central bank said in its statement.
Source : CNNMoney.com

But according to Keith Hembre, chief economist with First American Funds suggested that this might be the last increase in the interest rates. But Fed says that a risk of inflations still remains, following which traders have backed out from the bet i.e. they would increase the rate for the 18th time in August.
Following the interest rate hike at 2:15 PM (ET), DJIA rose by 1.98% to +217.24 , NASDAQ increased by 2.96% ending the day at +2174.38 up by 62.54 points since the previous closing, whereas Standard & Poor's 500 index(S&P500) shot up by 2.16% closing at +1272.87 up by 26.87 points since its previous closing. Hence, the above trade market scenarios clearly shows that Mr.Bernanke had made a very good decision while increasing the lending rates and in turn helping the market shoot up by 62 points.
But even though America had a good trading day, it was totally the opposite on the other side of the globe. India's SENSEX had a strong start in its first innings and rose upto 194 points but due to interest rate hike fear the market closed at a mere 32 points above its previous closing. Will the hike in NASDAQ fuel the rise in SENSEX? This'll be known on Friday itself, the last trading day for this week! May the investors have a great weekend.