US close: Markets slide as Fed brings QE to an end
US stocks slid back on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced its intention to keep interest rates unchanged for the foreseeable future.
Electronic Arts Inc.
$127.54
07:20 23/04/24
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
$12.07
07:20 23/04/24
Marriott International - Class A
$238.88
07:20 23/04/24
META PLATFORMS
$494.16
07:20 23/04/24
Twitter Inc
$53.70
11:00 08/03/24
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
$58.73
07:20 23/04/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 31.44 points down to 16,974.31, while the S&P 500 dropped 2.74 points to 1,982.31 and the Nasdaq closed 16.07 points down to 4,090.55
As widely expected, the Federal Reserve has announced the end of its bond buying programme and decided to keep interest rates unchanged.
The US central bank has maintained its vow to keep interest rates near zero for a "considerable time".
The likelihood of inflation running persistently below 2% has diminished somewhat since early this year, the Fed repeated. In one twist in the wording of its statement, when compared to that issued on 17 September, the Fed admitted that inflation will likely be held down in the near-term as a result of lower energy prices and other factors.
The US economy has been performing well this year after a weak first quarter and economists are forecasting the best nine-month stretch of growth since 2005-2006, with growth expected over 3%.
"On balance, the Fed believes it is getting closer to meeting the full employment side of its mandate, while it is not necessarily convinced it is losing ground in meeting the price stability side of its mandate," Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, said.
"We would say that was, if anything, a slightly hawkish shift. It's also perhaps telling that it was the dovish Narayana Kocherlakota who dissented at this vote, whereas in previous FOMC meetings this year it is the hawks who dissented."
In corporate news, Facebook shares dropped 6.08% as investors showed concern over the firm's operating costs, even though the social media outfit's quarterly results exceeded estimates on Tuesday.
Electronic Arts rose 3.82% on the heels of its results, while US Steel and Marriott International advanced 5.06% and 2.89% respectively after delivering better-than-expected results and Goodyear shares rose 5.40%.
The tyre-maker reported lower third-quarter financial results as taxes and exchange rate headwinds limited profitability, though it beat analyst expectations and generated a profit in Latin America despite the economic turmoil in the region.
InvenSense plummeted over 20% after the sensor firm fell well short of its targets, while Orbital Sciences dropped 16.79% after one of the company's rockets exploded soon after lift-off on Tuesday.
Alibaba surpassed Wal-Mart in terms of market capitalisation but that did not stop shares from retreating 1.37%, while Twitter slid back 3.88% as a result of analysts' downgrades on Tuesday.
Following the announcement from the Fed, the dollar advanced steadily against the pound, the euro and the yen, while gold futures slipped marginally to reach $1,211.90.
West Texas intermediate and Brent crude futures both took rose over a percentage point, closing at just over $82 and just over $87 a barrel respectively.
The yield on the 10-Year US Treasury note rose three basis point to 2.32%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dropped one basis point to 3.06 and the yield on the five-year Treasuries climbed eight basis points to 1.59.
S&P 500 - Risers
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $32.58 +10.89%
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) $23.03 +5.11%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $40.08 +5.06%
Total System Services Inc. (TSS) $32.52 +4.47%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $38.91 +3.82%
Dentsply International Inc. (XRAY) $49.32 +3.66%
Aetna Inc. (AET) $79.76 +3.28%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $55.76 +3.18%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $95.80 +2.92%
Ameriprise Financial Inc. (AMP) $123.76 +2.88%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $23.54 -9.39%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $75.86 -6.08%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $53.96 -5.66%
Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) $31.39 -5.42%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $20.80 -4.81%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $110.04 -3.53%
Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY) $33.08 -3.08%
Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) $74.53 -2.64%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $387.51 -2.61%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $117.12 -2.60%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $29.49 +1.38%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $40.95 +0.96%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $105.56 +0.73%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $56.20 +0.63%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $33.92 +0.53%
American Express Co. (AXP) $88.35 +0.39%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $92.92 +0.30%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $46.62 +0.28%
AT&T Inc. (T) $34.40 +0.20%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $24.10 +0.15%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $66.80 -1.69%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $100.19 -0.96%
Visa Inc. (V) $214.66 -0.95%
General Electric Co. (GE) $25.66 -0.85%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $59.27 -0.60%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $91.95 -0.54%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $94.60 -0.53%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $89.53 -0.44%
Boeing Co. (BA) $123.08 -0.43%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $105.85 -0.40%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $95.80 +2.92%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $60.21 +1.24%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $98.65 +1.23%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $21.48 +1.08%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $158.89 +1.08%
Linear Technology Corp. (LLTC) $41.46 +1.00%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $77.92 +0.85%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $61.95 +0.85%
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $147.87 +0.83%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $84.88 +0.81%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Facebook Inc. (FB) $75.86 -6.08%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $53.96 -5.66%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $110.04 -3.53%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $387.51 -2.61%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $117.12 -2.60%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $61.53 -2.55%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $153.65 -2.38%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $110.75 -2.38%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $378.10 -2.10%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $224.48 -1.96%