by Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Wednesday, as investors questioned the contours of monetary easing promised by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and assessed a range of mixed quarterly results as the results season began.
The Dow Jones index fell 0.12%, or 45.66 points, to 37,753.31 points.
The broader S&P-500 lost 29.20 points, or 0.58%, to 5,022.21 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 181.88 points (1.15%) to 15,683.37 points.
After posting significant gains late last year and hitting record highs in the first quarter amid optimism about falling interest rates, Wall Street’s major indexes have stalled recently as Cautious comments from Fed officials prompted investors to revise their expectations.
The S&P-500 finished in the red for a fourth consecutive session – an unprecedented series in more than four months – and is heading towards a third weekly decline in a row.
Fed officials, including Jerome Powell, the chairman of the US central bank, refrained earlier this week from providing any timetable for rate cuts, indicating instead that monetary policy should remain very tight for longer than that. ‘anticipated.
This follows in particular the publication of higher than expected inflation data in the United States.
“Markets are dealing with a few different things: inflation is higher than most forecasts, expectations for rate cuts are being lowered, and geopolitical tensions have increased, particularly in the Middle East,” Anthony said. Saglimbene, chief strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Michigan.
“There’s sort of an excuse for traders to stand aside and for markets to catch their breath after five very, very strong months of gains,” he added, also noting that the season results should play an even more important role than in the previous two quarters.
While an initial rate cut of 25 basis points in June was widely anticipated earlier this year by market participants, the hypothesis took a turn for the worse. According to FedWatch, this scenario is considered possible at only 16.8% now, and July appears to be the most likely moment for the Fed’s monetary shift.
The decline in US Treasury yields allowed Wall Street indices to limit their losses on Wednesday, the day after ten-year bonds rose to a four-month peak.
On the value side, Travelers fell 7.41%, weighing heavily on the S&P-500 and the Dow Jones, after the insurance giant published quarterly results lower than expectations.
Abbott Laboratories lost 3.03 following stronger-than-expected quarterly results but a disappointing annual revenue forecast.
United Airlines jumped 17.45% after saying it expected a better current quarter than initially expected.
US Bancorp fell 3.61% after reporting disappointing quarterly results and annual forecasts.
(Written by Jean Terzian)