STOCKS TUMBLE INTO THE RED: Here's what you need to know
All three indexes tanked following the release of the Federal Reserve's minutes from the March monetary policy meeting as the Fed indicated that it would look into reducing its balance sheet by the end of the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up nearly 150 points on the day early in trading before tumbling in the afternoon.
We've got all the headlines, but first, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 20,647.47, -41.77, (-0.20%)
- S&P 500: 2,356.46, -7.33, (-0.31%)
- Nasdaq: 5,864.48, -34.13, (-0.58%)
- 10-year Treasury: 2.357%, +7 basis points
- The Fed's minutes said that most of the members of the FOMC want to start shrinking the balance sheet. The Fed also signaled that it believed that the labor market was near or at full employment and that it has nearly met its inflation target. In fact, some members of the FOMC said in the minutes that the Fed had almost hit its 2% inflation target.
- The Fed also said that it ws unsure about Trump's economic policies. Half of the members of the FOMC had not introduced any assumptions about economic policy into their projections. Additionally, the members said they were keeping an eye on how expensive the stock market was getting and said it was monitoring soft vs. hard data.
- The owner of Krispy Kreme and Keurig is buying Panera Bread for $7.4 billion. JAB Holdings, which owns a large group of food brands also including Caribou Coffee, bought Panera a few days after news broke that the bakery brand was looking to sell itself. The deal was a 20.3% premium on the price of Panera stock from the day before the news of a possible sale broke.
- ADP private payrolls beat. The measure of private employment in the US came in at 263,000 for the month of March, well above the 185,000 expected by economist. February's reading was, however, revised down to 245,000 from 298,000.
- The service sector slowed in March. Both the ISM and Markit non-manufacturing PMIs missed expectations for the prior month. ISM came in at 55.2, lower than expectations of 57, and Markit's came in at 52.8, below the expected 53.1.
ADDITIONALLY:
The stock market doesn't think Trump will deliver on one of his biggest economic promises
The negotiations over 'Trumpcare' 2.0 are already looking like a disaster
Warren Buffett's favorite banker is investing in a $7.5 billion deal for Panera Bread
The Fed is getting aggressive with its messaging to markets after learning hard lessons