Latest News:  

English>>Business

Stocks drop following Fed doubts about stimulus

(Shanghai Daily)

08:22, February 21, 2013

THE stock market posted its biggest loss this year on news that Federal Reserve officials suggested the central bank scale back its effort to keep borrowing costs low.

Minutes from the Fed's January meeting seemed to catch investors by surprise when they were released at 2 p.m. EST. Several Fed policymakers worried that the bank's program of buying $85 billion of bonds each month could eventually unsettle financial markets or cause the bank to take losses. Even so, most of the Fed officials thought the economy faced fewer risks than in December.

Judging by the market's reaction, the Fed appears to be closer to ending its support for the economy than traders had expected, said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at the brokerage BTIG. "We're at a point now where we're discussing how we're going to end this, not whether it's going to end," he said.

The S&P 500 index sank 18.99 points to 1,511.95, a loss off 1.2 percent. That's the biggest one-day drop since Nov. 14, 2012.

By buying bonds, the Fed drives up their prices and lowers interest rates, which have stayed at record lows. That keeps costs low for mortgages and other types of loans.

The major indexes drifted sideways in morning trading then turned lower in the early afternoon after Caterpillar reported weaker sales of its heavy trucks and mining equipment. Stocks fell further after traders had time to digest the Fed minutes. The S&P 500 lost 11 points in the last hour and a half of trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 108 points, or less than 1 percent, to close at 13,927. Merck helped curb the Dow's fall, rising 1 percent, on news that it teamed up with a Korean drugmaker to create drugs.

【1】 【2】


We recommend:

New vehicles unveiled at Canadian Int'l Auto Show

Video: Facebook targeted by hackers

Sanya duty-free shops see surging sales

Juniper buries doubts on boom

3D printing reshapes manufacturing

Hongyanhe nuclear power station in NE China

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:MaXi、Liang Jun)

Related Reading

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. Special policemen in training

  2. Festive atmosphere on missile speedboat

  3. Pakistanis mourn for victims of deadly blast in Quetta

  4. Impressive moments of Beijing since 1950s

  5. Exploring top private clubs in China

  6. Employees punished to run half-naked

  7. Mo Yan's Our Jing Ke: Downfall by design

  8. Glamor Zhang Xinyi's street style

  9. Facebook targeted by hackers

  10. Online money transfers soared

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. How to build new type ties between big powers?
  2. Diplomacy to help China become global power
  3. Commentary: China sees Africa as true friend
  4. Mind your manners
  5. Football penalties 'too soft'
  6. Juvenile crime rules 'hard to follow'
  7. CCTV's Spring Festival Gala: Glory days gone
  8. Who cares for the village doctors?
  9. The weakening yen's impact on China
  10. Young climbers aim too high in China

What’s happening in China

Employees run half-naked for not meeting sales quotas

  1. Social security top concern ahead of 'two sessions'
  2. 39 punished over N China chemical leak
  3. Dog abuse arouses concern over lab animal
  4. Forbid linking doctors' incomes, medical expenses
  5. China refutes cyber attack allegations