Financials and telecom stocks lead decliners
U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, 05 April 2017 suffering a late selloff after minutes of the Federal Reserve's March meeting showed policy makers plan to begin unwinding the central bank's gigantic balance sheet before the end of the year. Stocks started strong out of the gate following an upbeat ADP Employment Change Report on Wednesday morning, but the hawkish tone of the FOMC Minutes prompted an afternoon retreat.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average which had earlier been up nearly 200 points, closed with a loss of 41.09 points, or 0.2%, at 20,648.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index which had reached an all-time intraday high of 5,936.39, closed down 34.13 points, or 0.6%, to 5,864.48. The S&P 500 which had been up 18 points earlier in the session, finished down 7.21 points, or 0.3%, at 2,352.95
19 of the 30 blue-chip companies finished lower. Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, Cisco Systems and IBM led decliners.
Nine of the 11 main sectors closed lower with financials and telecom stocks leading decliners. Energy shares finished down 0.3% after leading gains earlier in the session.
Markets appeared to shrug off geopolitical news coming from North Korea, which launched another intermediate-range missile, and a chemical attack in Syria that left hundreds dead. There was also little reaction to news that Jeffrey Lacker, a hawkish policy maker who isn't a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, dramatically quit on Tuesday after disclosing he leaked confidential material on the central bank's plans.
The release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting in March revealed that it would like to start reducing the Fed's balance sheet later in the year. In addition, the Minutes showed that some Fed officials are worried about high equity valuations. Stocks held steady immediately following the report, but the hawkish tone eventually seeped in, sending the cash market into the red.
More From This Section
The minutes indicated that the Fed is likely to start shrinking its balance sheet this year in line with its tighter monetary-policy regime. Higher rates tend to strengthen the dollar which in turn makes assets priced in the U.S. currency more expensive.
The two-day summit between Trump and China's President Xi was still in focus for investors, who are looking for clues on ramifications for trade and the dollar. Xi's visit to Mar-a-Lago in Florida begins Thursday.
Among economic data expected for the day, investors received March ADP Employment Change, March ISM Services, and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index. The ADP National Employment Report showed an increase of 263,000 in March (consensus 175,000) while the February reading was revised lower to 245,000 from 298,000. The ADP reading precedes Friday's more influential Employment Situation Report for March, which the consensus expects will show the addition of 180,000 nonfarm payrolls. The Employment Situation Report for February indicated that nonfarm payrolls increased by 235,000.
The ISM Services Index for March declined to 55.2 from an unrevised reading of 57.6 in February while the consensus expected a downtick to 57.0. The key takeaway from the report is that growth in the services sector, which accounts for a much bigger slice of economic activity than the manufacturing sector does, persisted for the 87th straight month.
Separately, the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 1.6% to follow last week's 0.8% decline.
Crude oil futures ended modestly higher on Wednesday, 05 April 2017 trimming sharp, early gains, after government data showed an unexpected rise in U.S. crude inventories, disappointing bullish traders looking for signs of shrinking stockpiles.
Crude oil for May delivery rose 12 cents or 0.2%, to close at $51.15 a barrel, but well off a session high of $51.88. Brent oilthe international benchmarkrose 19 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $54.36 a barrel.
But upside momentum was dented after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.6 million barrels last week. Market had forecast a 200,000 barrel decline in inventories. There was some disappointment in smaller-than-expected declines in gasoline and distillate inventories, which fell by 600,000 barrels and 500,000 barrels, respectively. Market had forecast a 1.6 million barrel drop in gasoline demand and a 700,000 barrel fall in distillate supplies, which include diesel and heating oil.
Gold prices retreated on Wednesday, 05 April 2017 at Comex after a reading of private-sector employment came in stronger than expected, steering buying to assets perceived as risky such as stocks.
June gold fell $9.90, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,248.50 an ounce, logging its first decline out of the past four sessions. Silver for May delivery dropped 13 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $18.18 an ounce.
In the Treasury market, Treasuries experienced increased demand in the wake of the FOMC Minutes. The benchmark 10-yr yield finished four basis points lower at 2.33%.
Tomorrow, March Challenger Job Cuts will be released at 7:30 ET while Initial Claims (consensus 245,000) will cross the wires at 8:30 ET.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News