2023-08-16 20:47:02
A Wall Street sign outside the New York Stock Exchange
by Noel Randewich and Saeed Azhar
NEW YORK (Archyde.com) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Wednesday after the release in the afternoon of the minutes of the Federal Reserve (Fed) July monetary policy meeting showing that officials from the US central bank were divided on the need for further rate hikes.
The Dow Jones index fell 0.52%, or 180.65 points, to 34,765.74 points.
The broader S&P-500 lost 33.53 points, or 0.76%, to 4,404.33 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 156.42 points (1.15%) to 13,474.63 points.
The “minutes” of the July 25-26 monetary policy meeting indicate that most Fed officials continue to favor the fight against inflation, creating uncertainty for the markets on the continuation of the bank’s monetary policy Central American.
“I share the opinion of the governors (of the Fed) that we are not convinced that inflation is completely in the rear view mirror,” commented Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel, in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“Markets will be walking on eggshells about what the Fed is going to do between September and October,” he added.
Like the day before, the banking sector fell again, by 1%, with Bank of America registering the biggest drop of the day (2.2%) among the major American banks.
Up in the previous two sessions before the publication next week of expected strong quarterly results, Nvidia marked time, ending down 1%.
“Investors are starting to take a more sober look at the economic picture,” said Mike Reynolds, one of Glenmede’s vice presidents.
August was a tough month for Wall Street, as data highlighting the persistence of inflation and the robustness of the economy fueled speculation that interest rates will remain high for longer than expected.
While most investors expect the Fed’s monetary tightening cycle to come to an end, they worry that rates will be held at their current level for longer.
Among the other movements of values to note, the jump of almost 3% of Target after the publication of quarterly results superior to expectations.
In decline at the start of the session, Walmart ended stable on the eve of the publication of its results, Thursday morning, during which it is expected that the distributor will raise its forecast for annual turnover.
(French version Jean Terzian)
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