The S&P 500 extended its recent slide Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept rates at their highest level in more than 20 years.The broad index fell 0.3%, deepening its losses from Tuesday, when it registered its largest drop since late January.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other U.S. stock indexes spiked Wednesday afternoon — not because the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, but because there won’t be any more rate hikes.

Wall Street stocks finished a choppy session mostly lower while the dollar retreated Wednesday after the Federal Reserve's latest decision to hold interest rates steady. US equities had rallied following a comment from Fed Chair Jerome Powell dismissing further interest rate hikes as "unlikely.

Officials unanimously decided to leave the target range for the benchmark federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5% - where it's been since July - following a slew of data that pointed to lingering price pressures in the US economy.