NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street rose to its highest level since the summer following the latest hike to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, which said it's finally seeing improvements in inflation.

The S&P 500 rallied back from an early 1% loss Wednesday to rise 1%. The Nasdaq jumped 2% and the Dow ended barely higher.

As expected, the Fed raised its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points to its highest level since late 2007. It's the smallest increase in the Fed's blizzard of rate hikes since March.

The Fed's chair said more increases are likely needed, but he also said the disinflationary process has started.