New York Report: Wall Street falls again as Fed fails to give markets guidance
US stocks ended lower in choppy trading yesterday after minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s July meeting offered few clues on the timing of a reduction in its bond-buying program.
Minutes from the meeting showed almost all the policymakers on the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee agreed that a change to the stimulus was not yet appropriate, and only a few thought it would soon be time to “slow somewhat” the pace of the stimulus policy.
“The minutes didn’t tell us much. It tells us that like everybody else the Fed is confused and they are not getting any clear signals from the economy. That is what you see in an economy bumbling along at 2 per cent,” said Erik Davidson, deputy chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 105.52 points or 0.7 per cent, to 14,897.47, the S&P 500 lost 9.53 points or 0.58 per cent, to 1,642.82 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 13.801 points or 0.38 per cent.
The Dow has fallen for six straight sessions, matching the longest losing streak since July 2012.