Ahead of jobs miss, some Fed officials edged towards 'taper' debate

US stocks dropped further into negative territory after the release of the minutes, while the US 10-year Treasury yield rose to a session high of 1.678%.

A "number" of Fed officials appeared ready to consider changes to monetary policy based on a continued strong economic recovery, according to minutes of the U.S. central bank's April meeting, but data since then may have already changed the landscape.

"A number of participants suggested that if the economy continued to make rapid progress toward the (policy-setting) Committee’s goals, it might be appropriate at some point in upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases," the minutes said in the most overt reference yet to a possible taper of the Fed's crisis-fighting bond purchases.
 

But