New York Report: Wall St pauses as Fed-driven rally peters out
US stocks retreated slightly yesterday as investors paused after the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep its stimulus intact sparked a rally that lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to record highs.
Major US stock indexes oscillated between modest gains and losses on the heels of Wednesday’s rally, with the S&P showing a swing of less than 10 points between the high and low of the session.
Many market participants had expected the Fed to announce it would begin to trim its stimulus, but the central bank instead said it would continue buying $85bn in bonds every month.
News that the Fed would delay winding down its stimulus until it had more evidence of solid economic growth boosted global equity markets yesterday, especially emerging markets, as investors returned to riskier assets.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 40.39 points or 0.26 per cent, to 15,636.55, the S&P 500 lost 3.18 points or 0.18 per cent, to 1,722.34 and the Nasdaq Composite added 5.743 points or 0.15 per cent, to 3,789.384.
JPMorgan Chase fell 1.2 per cent to $52.75 after the biggest US bank agreed to pay approximately $920m in penalties to regulators in two countries to settle some of its potential liabilities from its $6.2bn “London Whale” derivatives loss last year, according to terms made public yesterday.
Shares of Tesla Motors hit a record high of $180.47, boosted in part by an upbeat note from analysts at Deutsche Bank. Shares of the electric car maker closed up 7 per cent at $177.92.