Dow drops 100 points in late trade Shutterstock/Paul Reeves PhotographMore hawk than markets bargained for.The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a four-day winning streak on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve made official its plans to end the last round of its recession-era stimulus program. Most major stock benchmarks slipped lower, after an initial knee-jerk bout of panic, in the wake of the Fed’s policy decision, which came just after 2 p.m. Eastern time. Stocks did recover somewhat, but still ended Wednesday’s trading session in the red. Although the Fed said it would keep fed funds rate at zero, investors appeared to be caught off guard by the Fed’s upbeat view on the labor market and inflation. In its accompanying statement after its two-day meeting, the Fed explicitly said it could raise interest rates sooner than markets have forecast, if the economy grows faster than the bank projects. It was the first time the Fed made such explicit remarks about how quickly it could hike rates. Despite the choppy trading, there’s good news to be gleaned from the U.S. central bank’s posture. The Fed’s view implies the U.S. economy is on firmer footing. But the markets had hoped for more signs that a low-rate policy would be maintained for an extended period. The S&P 500 SPX, -0.14% closed 2.75 points, or 0.1%, lower at 1,982.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index, which was already under pressure from Internet stocksCOMP, -0.33% lost 15 points, or 0.3%, to 4,549.23. Meanwhile, the Dow industrials DJIA, -0.18% ended down 31.44 points, or 0.2%, at 16,974. Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors, expects more volatility in the next few days as investors fully digest the Fed’s decision, but ultimately believes that the end of QE is a positive for stocks. “The Fed is normalizing policy and the only reason they are doing so now is because they believe the economy is in a good shape. Now the focus is on the interest rate, which is likely to stay at near zero until next June,” Orlando said. marketwatch