Yellen notes 'cloud of uncertainty'

WEDNESDAY may be the day that a multi-decade decline in interest rates ended.

Stocks fell while bond yields and the dollar rose sharply after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in a year and promised a more aggressive policy next year than previously indicated.

In the immediate aftermath of the statement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average came within 50 points of 20,000 for the first time. But the jolt in Treasury yields and currency markets led to fears that the central bank's change of stance would derail the post-election rally in global markets.

A rate hike was widely expected, of course. The surprise - or shock, for some markets - was in the Fed's "dot plot", where central bankers mark their plans for policy votes. Here, Fed officials indic…