The declining trend in the US stock market reported an ease on Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve came out with its minutes following the conclusion of January meeting that showed the policy makers uninterested in raising the interest rates anytime soon.
As of 2:13 p.m. Eastern time, the S&P’s 500 index fell two points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,098. The index on Tuesday closed at an all-time high of 2,100. On the other hand, the Dow Jones industrial average declined 14 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,034 and the Nasdaq composite dropped one point to 4,898.
The Fed meeting minutes revealed that the officials were highly concerned over the inflation problem as well as the lingering issues in the labor market. The US central bank’s benchmark rate of interest has been at a record low near zero since December 2008.
The investors are anticipating over a possible rate hike by the Federal Reserve between June and September.
The prices of oil remained volatile with the latest rally appearing to flag. The benchmark US crude, which was reported on the rise last week, declined USD 1.19 at USD 52.34 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude tumbled USD 1.32 to USD 61.20 per barrel.
The promising jobs reports and the company earnings have encouraged the investors.
Sean Lynch, co-head of global equity strategy with Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said, “Investors are starting to look beyond oil and the currency strength and they are looking at the underlying economy as a positive.”
For the fourth quarter, most firms featuring in the S&P 500 index have reported their results. According to S&P Capital IQ, the earnings are forecast to jump by 7.6 percent after all the results comes in.
The prices increased in the government bond trading, while the yield on Treasury note of 10-year dropped to 2.07 percent from 2.14 percent on Tuesday.
The US dollar emerged stronger against the euro, pushing the currency down to USD 1.13. The greenback was little altered against the Japanese yen.
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