Why Fed rate-hike pause may not be good for stocks as Wall Street hopes?

The possible end to the Federal Reserve’s long campaign of rate hikes appears like an oasis to beaten-down Wall Street investors, but is it a mirage?
With inflation cooling from its peak last summer, Wall Street overwhelmingly assumes the central bank will hold rates steady for the first time in more than a year when it meets next month.
High rates knock down inflation by slowing the economy, raising the risk of a recession and hurting prices for all kinds of investments.
The stock market has held steady in recent weeks as investors bet on a pause by the Fed, offsetting a long list of other concerns, from cracks in the US banking system to the US government’s edging toward what could be a catastrophic default on its debt.
History seems to be on Wall Street’s side. Going back to the 1980s, the S&P 500 has jumped an average of nearly 6 per cent in the three months after the Fed makes its final increase in a rate-hike campaign.
But something makes today different than those four …