Off the wire
• Kenya's key stock index rises above 3,500 points  • 1st LD-Writethru: Xi calls for advancing Belt and Road Initiative  • EC dodges Brexit discussion before London triggers divorce talks  • 1st LD: Dozens wounded in train accident in south France  • Judge bars US swimmers from leaving Brazil - reports  • London sees alarming increase in syphilis cases  • Crediting activity in Macedonia declines in Q2  • Rajoy free to negotiate but no sign of new gov't in Spain  • China's Huawei opens Southern Pacific OpenLab in Singapore  • Spain's public debt hits record high in June  
You are here: 　 Home

U.S. stocks fall ahead of Fed minutes

Xinhua, August 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded lower in the morning session on Wednesday, as investors became cautious ahead of the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve's minutes.

By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 81.63 points, or 0.44 percent, to 18,470.39. The S&P 500 lost 9.16 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,168.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 28.63 points, or 0.55 percent, to 5,198.48.

Traders were awaiting the minutes of the Fed's July policy meeting scheduled for release Wednesday afternoon, for more indications on the timing of the next interest rate hike.

New York Fed President William Dudley, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), said Tuesday that a rate hike as soon as September was "possible".

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart echoed Tuesday that there could be one or two rate increases this year.

"If the committee is serious about taking the next step this close to a national election, it will be up to Janet Yellen to prepare the marketplace at that time," said Stephen Guilfoyle, chief market economist at Stuart Frankel & Co., in a note on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks retreated Tuesday as investors digested a batch of economic reports. U.S. equities rallied Monday, with all three major indices setting new closing records for the second time in less than a week. Endit