US markets end lower on Wednesday

04 Jan 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower with Nasdaq settling cut of over one percent after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting reiterated officials widely expect to begin lowering interest rates in 2024, although they also highlighted an unusually elevated degree of uncertainty about the outlook for rates and the economy. Projections provided by Fed officials at the December 12-13 meeting suggested three quarter point rate cuts by the central bank are likely by the end of 2024. The forecasts were backed up by the minutes, which said baseline projections implied that a lower target range for the federal funds rate would be appropriate by the end of 2024. However, the minutes said participants also noted an unusually elevated degree of uncertainty and that it was possible further rate increases could be appropriate.

The minutes said several participants also observed that circumstances might warrant keeping rates at current levels for longer than they currently anticipated. The minutes indicated the high degree of uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook was partly due to the possibility that the momentum of economic activity may be stronger than currently assessed, posing an upside risk to both inflation and economic activity. On the economic data front, a report released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a slightly slower rate in the month of December. The ISM said its manufacturing PMI rose to 47.4 in December from 46.7 in November, but a reading below 50 still indicates contraction. Street had expected the index to inch up to 47.1. The uptick by the headline index partly reflected a turnaround by production, with the production index climbing to 50.3 in December from 48.5 in November.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 284.85 points or 0.76 to 37,430.19, Nasdaq dropped 173.73 points or 1.18 percent to 14,592.21 and S&P 500 was down by 38.02 points 0.8 percent to 4,704.81.


© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×