U.S. stocks closed mostly lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%–4.00%, its first hike in three years, and Chair Kevin Warsh's press conference leaned more hawkish than traders had priced in. All three major averages had been higher earlier in the session before the decision and Warsh's remarks pulled the market into the red.The Dow led the damage, weighed down by financial shares, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite held up relatively better. Warsh reiterated that inflation remains the Fed's "predominant focus," and the central bank's updated projections showed officials see at least one more hike before year-end — a signal that kept a lid on risk appetite into the close.Losses were concentrated in banks, crypto-linked names, energy, and solar, while AI-infrastructure and semiconductor names bucked the trend with sharp gains, a split that says more about positioning than about the Fed decision itself.U.S. closing levels. Nasdaq close unchanged. Nasdaq 100 closes modestly higher. Dow Jones Industrial Average: 51,468.16, -630.04 (-1.21%)S&P 500: 7,552.25, -33.49 (-0.44%)Nasdaq Composite: 25,978.42, -3.15 (-0.01%)Russell 2000: 2,858.82, -11.46 (-0.40%)Nasdaq 100: 28,946.06, +7.22 (+0.02%)Winners, losers, and sectorsGainers — AI infrastructure and semis led the tape:Lumentum Holdings (LITE) +9.59%Worthington Industries (WOR) +8.37%Credo Technology (CRDO) +7.38%Astera Labs (ALAB) +6.59%GE Vernova (GEV) +4.84%Bloom Energy (BE) +4.23%Intel (INTC) +4.11%Dell Technologies (DELL) +3.66%Marvell (MRVL) +3.61%The common thread among the biggest gainers is AI data-center exposure — optical networking (Lumentum, Credo, Astera Labs), chipmakers (Intel, Marvell), hardware (Dell), and power infrastructure tied to data-center demand (GE Vernova, Bloom Energy). That group traded largely independent of the Fed-driven weakness elsewhere.Losers — banks, crypto, and energy took the brunt:Occidental (OXY) -6.54%First Solar (FSLR) -5.57%Roblox (RBLX) -5.55%Robinhood (HOOD) -5.46%Coinbase (COIN) -4.42%Athena Global Technologies (ATHN) -4.39%IBM (IBM) -4.34%Goldman Sachs (GS) -3.88%PNC Financial (PNC) -3.86%Boeing (BA) -3.64%Financials (Goldman Sachs, PNC) and crypto-adjacent names (Robinhood, Coinbase) were among the hardest hit, consistent with the Dow's financial-led decline. Occidental's drop lines up with pressure across energy, while the specific catalysts for moves in names like Boeing and IBM aren't clear from today's data and shouldn't be assigned a cause without confirmation.Treasury yield curve flattens with the 2 year up 7.29 basis pointsThe hawkish hike saw the short end move the most to the upside, with modest gains out the curve. The levels are showing. 2-year: 4.7359%, +7.29 bps5-year: 4.8751%, +4.91 bps10-year: 5.0164%, +2.04 bps30-year: 5.3554%, +0.76 bpsYields rose across the curve following the Fed's hike and Warsh's hawkish press conference, with the short end moving the most as traders repriced the odds of additional tightening. The 10-year holding above 5% keeps pressure on rate-sensitive sectors — a headwind that shows up directly in today's action, with banks and growth names among the session's weakest performers despite the up move in yields typically being read as bank-friendly.Why the market's reaction mattered more than the hike itself.Today's Fed decision was widely expected — futures had priced in over 90% odds of a quarter-point hike. What moved stocks wasn't the hike; it was Warsh's tone in the press conference. This is a useful reminder for traders: when an event is already priced in, the market's real reaction comes from the forward-looking language around it, not the headline number. That's why stocks were higher into the decision and reversed only after Warsh spoke — traders were repricing the path of future policy, not just today's move.It's also worth noting how unevenly the selloff hit different corners of the market. Broad-market bias — in this case, a risk-off tone from a hawkish Fed — can pressure most stocks, but it doesn't dictate every stock's move. The AI-infrastructure names that rallied today show that a strong individual theme can override a soft macro backdrop, at least for a session. Don't assume every stock has to follow the index. This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.