US markets slip on the Fed minutes of meeting

21 Feb 2013 Evaluate

The US markets slipped on Wednesday, retreating from multiyear highs, after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting illustrated differing views over continued stimulus. The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting revealed that many Fed officials are worried about the costs and risks arising from the $85 billion per month asset-purchase program and they all seem to have their own ideas on how to proceed. Several Fed officials stated that the central bank should be prepared to vary the pace of the asset-purchase plan depending on the outlook or how the program was working. Besides, a number of Fed officials stated that the central bank may have to taper off or end the purchases before reaching the stated goal of a substantial improvement in the labor-market outlook. On the other hand, several Fed officials warned that ending the asset purchases too soon would damage the economy. They stressed that it was important to communicate that the Fed would hold to an ultra-easy policy stance as long as warranted by the weak economy. Additionally, one new idea backed by a number of Fed officials would have the central bank promising markets that it will not sell its massive holdings of treasury and mortgage-backed securities as quickly as the market now expects. The Fed added that a review of the program had been set for March. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a press conference at the end of the two-day meeting on March 20.

On the economy front, US wholesale costs rose in January for the first time in four months because of a spike in vegetable prices, but inflation at the producer level was generally muted. The producer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, the Labor Department stated. Energy prices fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4%, but the index failed to capture the surge in gasoline costs that started shortly after the New Year began. Higher fuel costs are expected to show up in the February PPI report. On the other hand, construction on new US homes fell sharply in January as apartment building slowed, nonetheless contained signs of longer-term growth. The US Department of Commerce reported that construction on new US homes fell 8.5% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 890,000.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 108.13 points or 0.77 percent to 13,927.50, the Nasdaq dropped 49.19 points or 1.53 percent to 3,164.41 and the S&P 500 was down by 18.99 points or 1.24 percent to 1,511.95.

Indian ADRs closed in red on Wednesday, ICICI Bank was down 1.16%, HDFC Bank was down 0.86%, Infosys was down by 0.35%, Tata Motors was down 0.29% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.24%.

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