US markets end mostly lower on Wednesday

17 Sep 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday despite a dovish monetary policy announcement by the Fed, with the central bank leaving interest rates unchanged and signaling rates are likely to remain at near-zero levels for years to come. The Fed announced its widely expected decision to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at zero to 0.25 percent. The economic projections provided along with the announcement suggest most Fed officials expect interest rates to remain unchanged through at least 2023. The central bank said it expects rates to remain at current levels until labor market conditions reach levels consistent with maximum employment and inflation has risen to 2 percent and is on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time. The projections from Fed officials suggest consumer price inflation will remain below 2.0 percent until at least 2023. The Fed's latest estimates point to a 3.7 percent contraction in GDP in 2020, reflecting an improvement from the 6.5 percent plunge forecast in June.

On the economic data front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed a modest increase in US business inventories in the month of July. The Commerce Department said business inventories inched up by 0.1 percent in July after slumping by 1.1 percent in June. The uptick in inventories matched street estimates. The modest rebound in business inventories came as retail inventories jumped by 1.2 percent in July after tumbling by 2.7 percent in the previous month. On the other hand, the report showed wholesale and manufacturing inventories fell by 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. The Commerce Department also said business sales surged up by 3.2 percent in July after soaring by 8.6 percent in June.

Nasdaq dropped 139.85 points or 1.25 percent 11,050.47 and S&P 500 was down by 15.71 points or 0.46 percent to 3,385.49, while Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 36.78 points or 0.13 percent to 28,032.38.

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