The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates at its target range of 4.25% to 4.5% when it announces its decision at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

This time, traders will be watching for details on policymakers’ outlook for interest rates, along with the Fed’s projections for inflation and economic growth.

As usual, investors will also look ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m., seeking clues on what could be next for rate policy. Wall Street will also pay close attention to any comments related to the effect of U.S. tariffs on the economy.

Watch for stock volatility around Fed Chair Powell’s presser, says Raymond James wealth advisor

The major averages could see a shakeup as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell takes the podium for his press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET, notes Michael Rosner, private wealth advisor at Raymond James.

“The Federal Reserve is likely to keep rates unchanged at Wednesday’s meeting, but the landscape has changed since the last Fed meeting in January, and this will be the first Fed meeting since the markets started to react negatively to trade tensions,” he said.

“We expect volatility around the FOMC press conference, as we are still a very headline-driven and headline sensitive market,” Rosner added.

The fact that the Fed is issuing its quarterly projections for rate policy, inflation and other key economic data points could also rattle stocks.

Indeed, the last time the central bank delivered its forecast on Dec. 18 – where it slashed its rate cut outlook to two reductions in 2025, down from four – the S&P 500 lost nearly 3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked more than 1,100 points.

–Darla Mercado

Central bank policymakers are expected to hold off on changes to interest rates at the conclusion of their March meeting, but their projections on what’s next for the economy and for rates will be key.

The Federal Reserve will shed some light on what may be next as it issues its quarterly forecast on rate policy, gross domestic product and inflation. That additional insight comes at a time when investors have been fretting over a raft of soft economic data and President Donald Trump’s trade policies.

The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee will spell out its expectations for interest rates on its “dot plot,” where members share their outlook on whether rate cuts are in the cards this year.

Read more from CNBC’s Jeff Cox here on what to expect as the Fed issues its policy decision.

— Darla Mercado

The Federal Reserve is likely to keep rates at its target rate range of 4.25% to 4.5% at the conclusion of its two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Consumers, who have been through the Fed’s rate-hiking cycle in 2022 and the three cuts in late 2024, have seen borrowing costs rise during that period.

Consider that a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage clocked in at 6.81% as of the week of March 14, up from 4.29% in the week of March 11, 2022, according to Mortgage News Daily. Rates on credit cards have also climbed, reaching 20.09% as of the week of March 14. That is up from 16.34% roughly three years ago, Bankrate found.

At the same time, consumers and fixed-income investors are earning more interest. The 10-year Treasury yield traded at 4.3% on Wednesday, up from around 2% in March 2022.

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The 10-year Treasury yield in 2025

The annual percentage yield on a five-year certificate of deposit was 1.9% last week, an improvement from the 0.5% yield on those instruments in March 2022, according to Haver. Still, the latest APY data shows that banks have trimmed back the interest they are willing to pay on CDs in recent months. The yield on a five-year CD was 2.87% last September, Haver found.

— Nick Wells, Darla Mercado