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U.S. stocks turn lower amid Fed officials' remarks

Xinhua, November 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Friday, as investors assessed U.S. Federal Reserve officials' comments on monetary policy and continued to digest remarks from Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 45.16 points, or 0.24 percent, to 18,858.66. The S&P 500 lost 6.38 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,180.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 15.92 points, or 0.30 percent, to 5,318.05.

Kansas City Fed President Esther George said the U.S. economy would benefit from the Fed raising rates sooner rather than later, according to the CNBC.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he is leaning towards supporting a rate hike next month and argued on Friday that the real question now is the Fed's rate path in 2017.

Yellen said Thursday that it will be appropriate for the central bank to hike interest rate relatively soon, and warned of the risks of keeping rate low for too long.

"The (Federal Open Market) Committee judged that the case for an increase in the target range had continued to strengthen and that such an increase could well become appropriate relatively soon if incoming data provide some further evidence of continued progress toward the Committee's objectives," said Yellen.

Analysts took her comments as a clear indication that the central bank could raise interest rates next month.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, market expectations for a December rate hike were 90.6 percent. Enditem