U.S. stocks remained modestly lower on Wednesday afternoon following the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting, which arrived at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Treasury yields remained broadly higher, as the minutes confirmed that most — but not all — senior Fed officials would support more interest-rate hikes later this year. The S&P 500 SPX was off by 7.5 points, or 0.2%, at 4,448 in recent trade, with the index remaining just shy of its most recent 52-week closing high from Friday. The Nasdaq Composite COMP was off by 30 points, or 0.2%, at 13,784, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA fell by 160 points, or 0.5%, at 34,259. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was up 8.3 basis points on the day at 3.939% as yields traded at their highest level since March. Bond yields move inversely to prices. The minutes showed all but two senior Fed officials were in favor of raising interest rates later this year after the Fed left borrowing costs on hold in June following 10 consecutive hikes. Jose Torres, senior economist with Interactive Brokers, said the minutes contained little new information that might move markets. “Everyone knows that the Fed wants to move higher,” he said during a phone interview with MarketWatch. Instead of reacting to the minutes, the market appeared to be “learning to live with higher yields,” which is boosting investors’ hopes that the torrid year-to-date rally in U.S. stocks might have more room to run. Typically, higher bond yields hurt stock valuations since they allow investors to reap higher returns while shouldering less risk.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
0
0
