Expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in September rose sharply after U.S. core CPI inflation accelerated again in August, making a hike this week highly probable. Attention has shifted to how U.S. stocks may perform afterward. LPL Financial Chief Equity Strategist Jeff Buchbinder reviewed six Fed tightening cycles since 1994 and found that the S&P 500 typically struggled in the short term after the first increase but performed substantially better one year later. LPL said current economic conditions differ markedly from 2022 and more closely resemble the late 1990s, while cautioning that this does not mean the 1997 market pattern will return. The firm has previously estimated that the overall tightening in the current cycle is unlikely to approach the scale of 2022 to 2023, when the Fed raised rates by a cumulative 5.25 percentage points through 21 increases of 25 basis points each.