U.S. stocks slipped after the Federal Reserve held its main interest rate steady and broke a run of cuts that began in September. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.

Buried in a rote US Treasury survey released on the eve of the latest holiday weekend was a question that all of Wall Street wants the answer to: What’s the Federal Reserve’s plan once it’s done drawing down its crisis-era bond holdings?

U.S. stocks ended lower but off their lows of the day on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady as expected and Fed Chair Jerome Powell offered soothing comments on the economy. Technology shares were the biggest drags on the S&P 500,