US stocks slip as focus turns to Fed decision on tapering asset purchases
- The S&P 500 and the Dow slipped from record highs Wednesday before the Federal Reserve's policy statement.
- The Fed is expected to declare its widely telegraphed intention to start tapering asset purchases.
Stocks edged back from record highs on Wednesday before the Federal Reserve issued a monetary policy statement that's widely expected to include the central bank deciding to begin winding down stimulus measures put in place when the COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding last year.
All three major indexes slipped, with each not far off from the record highs set in the previous session.
Equities barely budged following the private payrolls report from ADP which showed the addition of 571,000 in October, the strongest one-month gain since June. That figure outstripped the estimate of 400,000 from a Bloomberg survey of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Here's where US indexes stood at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 4,626.79, down 0.08%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 36,005.72, down 0.13% (46.91 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 15,628.91, down 0.13%
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee are expected Wednesday afternoon to say the central bank will start tapering monthly purchases of $120 billion a month in Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities, a move it's been telegraphing to the markets for months.
"Tapering may not be enough to counter runaway inflation that we've been seeing over the past few months and the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates sooner-than-expected in an effort to calm rising consumer prices," said Danielle DiMartino Booth, chief strategist at Quill Intelligence, in a note Wednesday.
"The market expects the Fed to start raising interest rates in July 2022, but the Federal Reserve may need to announce its first rate hike earlier in 2022 in order to help slow the rapid pace of inflation," said DiMartino Booth, who has served as an advisor to former Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher.
Around the markets, gold shed 0.1% at $1,785 per ounce. The 10-year yield fell to 1.533%.
Oil prices dropped. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1% at $82.12 per barrel. Brent, oil's international benchmark, lost 2% to $83.02.
Bitcoin slipped 04% to $62,944.13.