Wall Street ended sharply lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, with AI-related chip stocks adding to recent declines ahead of ​quarterly reports from Microsoft and Meta Platforms and the Nasdaq 100 index marking an 11% drop from its June record high.The Fed’s widely expected ‌decision to leave the benchmark interest rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range drew dissents from three of the 12 members of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee who “preferred” a quarter-percentage-point hike at this meeting.The benchmark S&P 500 hit its lowest level in a month, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was down about 9% from its June record high.The Nasdaq 100 index dropped 2.1%, extending recent ​losses as investors unloaded AI-related stocks due to ongoing concerns about heavy capital spending. That index is composed of the Nasdaq exchange’s most valuable ​non-financial companies.Investors had mostly expected the Fed to keep rates unchanged. Inflation has been running above the central bank’s target for ⁠more than five years, and up until last month it was accelerating as the war in the Middle East pushed up global fuel and food prices.“The ​Fed held pat, as expected. The bigger question now though becomes, how much pressure will they have to hike in September? Inflation is running hot and with surging ​crude oil, the market expects the next hike to indeed be in September,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group.Investors worry that major U.S. companies are deepening a web of AI-linked investments and continuing to funnel billions into the emerging technology at the expense of free cash flow.Meta Platforms dropped 4% in extended trade after the social media company said it now expects ​2026 capital expenditure to be between $130 billion and $145 billion, compared with its prior forecast of $125 billion to $145 billion.Also after the bell, Microsoft climbed 0.6% after it ​topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly cloud revenue growth, a sign its massive spending on AI infrastructure was paying off.Meanwhile, competition from China has been heating up, both in the ‌race to ⁠develop advanced chips and as Chinese firms roll out cheaper AI models.Speaking to reporters, Fed chief Kevin Warsh said spending on AI was laying the groundwork for future growth.AI-related chipmakers added to recent losses after a sixfold jump in SK Hynix’s quarterly profit fell short of lofty investor expectations. The South Korean company’s shares fell 10%.AI infrastructure company Vertiv slumped 17% after missing quarterly revenue expectations.The S&P 500 declined 1.52% to end the session at 7,316.15 points. The Nasdaq declined 1.74% to 24,442.94 points, while the Dow ​Jones Industrial Average declined 2.19% to 51,594.14 ​points.Eight of the 11 S&P ⁠500 sector indexes declined, led lower by industrials down 3.24%, followed by a 2.5% loss in information technology.Analysts on average expect S&P 500 aggregate second-quarter earnings to jump 40% from a year ago, with AI-related stocks accounting for much of that ​growth, according to LSEG I/B/E/S.Strong earnings forecasts and Wall Street’s recent decline have left the S&P 500 trading at ​about 20 times expected ⁠earnings, just above its 10-year average of 19, according to LSEG data.Ford Motor gained 2.1% after raising its annual profit outlook for a second time this year. Lennox tumbled 21% after the HVAC solutions maker lowered its annual profit forecast.Visa rose 0.6% after the company beat estimates for quarterly profit, helped by World Cup-fueled travel demand.Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.8-to-one ⁠ratio.The ​S&P 500 posted 32 new highs and four new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 121 new highs ​and 230 new lows.Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively heavy, with 17.7 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 17.3 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.