All three major U.S. stock benchmarks closed lower Wednesday, amid fresh economic data showing manufacturing activity rose in May and as remarks by Federal Reserve officials reinforced expectations the central bank will continue to aggressively tighten monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped about 0.5%, while the S&P 500 fell around 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite lost about 0.7%, according to preliminary FactSet data. The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday that its closely watched U.S. manufacturing index, or Manufacturing PMI, rose to 56.1% in May from 55.4% in April, indicating economic expansion. The Fed, which is tightening its monetary policy to cool the economy in an effort to rein in soaring inflation, has already begun raising interest rates. The central bank’s quantitative tightening program, involving the reduction of its balance sheet that expanded massively during the pandemic to almost $9 trillion, began Wednesday.
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