New York Fed President William Dudley and Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart both said on Tuesday that the U.S. central bank could raise rates at its September policy meeting.
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“Nevertheless, with inflation continuing to miss to the downside, the case for caution remains strong”. The index was on track to rise 0.25 percent on the week, during which it reached a 1-year high.
Bond prices turned higher and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.55 percent from 1.58 percent.
Dudley insisted that a rate hike could be coming as soon as September, and his comments mirror those of Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart from Tuesday.
On the oil front, U.S. crude rose 0.45% to settle at $46.79 a barrel, after Energy Information Administration data showed oil inventories decreased by 2.5 million barrels last week.
Even as USA stocks have notched fresh all-time highs, “people are not feeling as good as you might think they’d feel”, said Seth Masters, chief investment officer at AllianceBernstein’s wealth management arm, pointing to deteriorating measures of investor sentiment.
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks are trading lower Wednesday as the market inches away from its recent record highs.
Wall Street was short-changed any clarity over a rate-hike timeline on Wednesday after the release of minutes from the July meeting showed a split Federal Reserve.
At its July meeting, the Fed opted to hold rates between 0.25% and 0.5%.
Networking company Cisco Systems fell 1.63% ahead of the opening bell, after saying late on Wednesday it will slash 5,500 jobs. The dollar has strengthened amid signs of the US economy’s resilience to withstand another increase in borrowing costs, despite slowing global growth.
Stock markets have largely quieted in recent sessions, with volumes and liquidity low in light summer trading, analysts said.
Weighing on sentiment were disappointing results from Target, down 6.1% as of 3.16pm in NY, as well as from Lowe’s, down 5.5%.
The dollar index dipped 0.1 per cent to 94.611, having lost about 0.7 per cent so far this week, during which it touched a 7-week low of 94.426 on Tuesday.
Lowe’s shares fell 4.6 percent to $77.68 after the home improvement chain’s quarterly comparable sales missed estimates.
Hong Kong shares were the top gainer in Asia with a 1% rise, while a stronger yen, thanks to the Fed’s cautious outlook, pulled Japan’s Nikkei back 0.9%.
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Data on United Kingdom labour markets will be another focus and having got close to July’s 31-year lows earlier in the week, sterling was trading nearly unchanged at $1.3025. The Bank of Japan, which underwhelmed the markets in July with what many investors deemed were token easing steps, will conduct a comprehensive policy review in September. The VIX Volatility Index was lower for the day at 12.17 for a loss of -0.47 points, or -3.72%.
