Fed Hikes • Yellen Backtracks • Storage Wars

March 21, 2023 | Hoya Capital

Fed Hikes • Yellen Backtracks • Storage Wars Daily Recap Mar 22 Written By Alex Pettee, CFA U.S. equity markets slid Wednesday as dueling commentary from Fed Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary Yellen reversed an initial bounce in the immediate aftermath of the Fed's 25-basis point hike. Diving into the close and reversing intra-session gains of nearly 1%, the S&P 500 finished lower by 1.7% today while the Mid-Cap 400 and Small-Cap 600 each slid by over 2.5%.

Real estate equities finished sharply lower as credit concerns across the regional banking system offset a retreat in benchmark interest rates. The Equity REIT Index dipped 3.7% today. Treasury Secretary Yellen stole the spotlight after commenting to lawmakers that the Federal government is not considering providing “blanket” deposit insurance to stabilize the banking system. Life Storage (LSI) was among the better performers today after Bloomberg reported that competitor Extra Space (EXR) is evaluating a rival bid for the company after it rejected an $11B bid last month from Public Storage (PSA).

U.S. equity markets slid into the close Wednesday as dueling commentary from Fed Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary Yellen reversed an initial bounce in the immediate aftermath of the Fed's 25 basis point rate hike. Diving into the close and reversing intra-session gains of nearly 1%, the S&P 500 finished lower by 1.7% today while the Mid-Cap 400 and Small-Cap 600 each slid by over 2.5%. The Dow slid more than 500 points.

Real estate equities finished sharply lower as amplified credit concerns across the regional banking system offset a retreat in benchmark interest rates. The Equity REIT Index dipped 3.7% today with all 18 property sectors in positive territory, while the Mortgage REIT Index declined by 2.5%. As expected, the Federal Reserve hiked the Fed Funds rate by another 25 basis points to a 5.0% upper bound while indicating a more cautious approach to further tightening in light of the ...