Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- U.S. stocks ended down on Wednesday as minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve April meeting showed participants agreed the economy remained far from the central bank’s goals
- Stocks initially extended losses following the release of the minutes, which also showed that Fed policymakers hinted at a possible shift in future policy. U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar index jumped
- The mere hint of ‘taper talk’ was enough to spark a selloff in bonds and send stocks lower
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 164.62 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 33,896.04, the S&P 500 lost 12.15 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 4115.68 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.90 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 13,299.74
- The U.S. dollar gained ground following the release of the Fed minutes, snapping a four-day losing streak
- Meanwhile, bitcoin briefly plunged to its lowest level since January in the wake of China’s decision to ban financial and payment institutions from providing digital currency services
U.S. stocks ended down on Wednesday as minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve April meeting showed participants agreed the economy remained far from the central bank’s goals.
Stocks initially extended losses following the release of the minutes, which also showed that Fed policymakers hinted at a possible shift in future policy. U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar index jumped.
Minutes of the U.S. central bank’s April 27-28 meeting said a number of Fed policymakers thought that if the economy continued rapid progress, it would be appropriate “at some point” in upcoming meetings to begin discussing tapering government bond purchases.
The mere hint of ‘taper talk’ was enough to spark a selloff in bonds and send stocks lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 164.62 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 33,896.04, the S&P 500 lost 12.15 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 4115.68 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.90 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 13,299.74.
Investors have been speculating about whether rising U.S. inflationary pressures could prompt the Fed to pare back its support sooner than many anticipate.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 1.51 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.58 per cent.
The U.S. dollar gained ground following the release of the Fed minutes, snapping a four-day losing streak.
Cryptocurrencies plunged after regulatory moves by China. Bitcoin briefly plunged to its lowest level since January in the wake of China’s decision to ban financial and payment institutions from providing digital currency services, but pared its losses after some of its prominent backers reiterated their support.
Rival cryptocurrency ethereum was down 22 per cent at around US$2358.
In the Treasury market, the yield on 10-year notes was up 3.8 basis points at 1.68 per cent, pulling back slightly from a day’s high of 1.69 per cent.
Oil prices dropped over $2 a barrel to their lowest levels in three weeks amid worries that surging COVID-19 cases in Asia would hurt demand for crude.
Brent futures fell $2.05, or 3.0 per cent, to settle at $66.66 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $2.13, or 3.3 per cent, to settle at $63.36.
U.S. gold futures fell 0.22 per cent to $1863.60 an ounce.
