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Treasury yields shot higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate for the second time in a decade. In addition to raising interest rates, which was widely anticipated by financial markets, the Fed signaled that it expects to raise interest rates next year more swiftly than previously thought. The median projection on the Fed’s “dot plot” showed members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee expect three rate hikes next year, though the expected pace for 2018 and 2019 was largely unchanged. The two-year Treasury yield touched 1.235%, its highest level since August 2009. The 10-year traded as high as 2.495, while the 30-year yield edged lower to 3.118%. Short-term Treasury yields are typically the most sensitive to rate-hike expectations.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks advanced in volatile trade after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday hiked interest rates by 25 basis points as had been widely expected. The S&P 500 rose 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,274 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 44 points, or 0.2%, to 19,955. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 11 points to 5,475. “In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1/2 to 3/4 percent,” the central bank said in a statement.

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Generic drug stocks dropped Wednesday, after a report that U.S. regulators filed the first criminal charges in a sweeping investigation into suspected price collusion. The U.S. Justice Department charged two former executives of Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc., former Chief Executive Jeffrey Glazerof, and former President Jason Malek, Bloomberg reported, citing court filings. Heritage was not immediately available for comment. The investigation, which Bloomberg reported last month, involves executives of more than a dozen companies, and alleges they agreed with one another to raise prices. Among the shares of some of the companies mentioned in the report, Mylan N.V.’s slumped 2.1%, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.’s shed 2.1%, Endo International PLC’s dropped 4%, Lannett Co. Inc.’s slid 1.2%, Impax Laboratories Inc.’s fell 3.6% and Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. declined 0.4%. The SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF , which slipped 0.7% in midday trade, has tumbled 24% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 11%.

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Infidelity website Ashley Madison parent Ruby said Wednesday that it has paid $1.66 million to settle with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission the state attorneys generals regarding investigations into business practices. As part of the settlement, in which Ruby “neither admits nor denies the allegations,” the amount was paid to the various states participating in the settlement. “Today’s settlement closes an important chapter on the company’s past and reinforces our commitment to operating with integrity and to building a new future for our members, our team and our company,” said Ruby Chief Executive Rob Segal.

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Alaska Air Group Inc.’s corporate credit rating was downgraded to junk status at S&P Global Ratings, which cited the air carrier’s increased debt following Wednesday’s closing of its $4 billion acquisition of Virgin America Inc. The acquisition included the assumption of $1.4 billion in debt and leases. “This increase in Alaska’s debt has caused the company’s previously very strong financial risk profile to decline substantially,” S&P Global credit analyst Tatiana Kleiman. Alaska Air’s rating was cut to BB+ from BBB-, which is the ratings agency’s lowest investment grade rating. The outlook is stable. S&P Global said it believes Alaska Air faces integration risk as it combines the two airlines. Alaska Air’s stock slipped 0.4% in morning trade. It has gained 7.5% year to date, while the NYSE Arca Airline index has soared 29% and the S&P 500 has gained 11%.

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Oil futures cut their losses Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies fell by 2.6 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 9. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a climb of 4.7 million barrels, according to sources. Analysts and traders polled by The Wall Street Journal forecast a stockpile decline of 1.7 million barrels, on average. Gasoline supplies rose 500,000 barrels while distillate stockpiles fell 800,000 barrels, according to the EIA. January crude traded down 58 cents, or 1.1%, to $52.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up from $52 before the data.

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Shares of Express Scripts Holding Co. turned sharply lower Wednesday, falling 4.1% in morning trade, after Chief Executive Timothy Wentworth said in a conference call with analysts that debate over drug pricing would not go away. Earlier, the stock rose as much as 1.1% in premarket trade, after the pharmacy benefit manager affirmed its 2016 adjusted earnings outlook and provided an in-line outlook for 2017. When asked by J.P. Morgan analyst Lisa Gill whether he had heard anything out of D.C. that could be potentially negative for the company or the industry, Wentworth said that while it was still early, he had not seen anything to cause him to be hugely concerned, according to a transcript provided by FactSet. He if there was a complete change of the Affordable Care Act, they would see a transition of members, as the company has business in the exchanges, but that the company regularly helps clients transition members. “I can’t point to anything that right now beyond the overarching conversation about drug pricing,” Wentworth said, according to the FactSet transcript. “And there is no question in my mind that that conversation is not going to go away, and that we need to demonstrate using both our tools, but our clients’ voice as well to demonstrate that.” The stock has tumbled 20% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 11%.

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