US markets end lower after Fed Minutes

23 May 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday as the Fed minutes suggested officials expect to maintain interest rates at current levels longer than previously thought. The minutes of the April 30-May 1 meeting said participants highlighted disappointing readings on inflation over the first quarter and indicators pointing to strong economic momentum. The participants subsequently assessed that it would take longer than previously anticipated for them to gain greater confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent. Meanwhile, traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of quarterly results from AI darling Nvidia (NVDA). On the sectoral front, gold stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, resulting in a 3.7 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The sell-off by gold stocks came amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal. 

A sharp decline by the price of crude oil also contributed to significant weakness among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 3.4 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. Housing stocks also saw considerable weakness following the release of a report unexpectedly showing a continued decrease by existing home sales in August, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index tumbled by 2.4 percent. Brokerage, oil producer and steel stocks also showed notable moves to the downside, while biotechnology and semiconductor stocks bucked the downtrend.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 201.95 points or 0.51 percent to 39,671.04, Nasdaq dropped 31.08 points or 0.18 percent to 16,801.54 and S&P 500 was down by 14.4 points or 0.27 percent to 5,307.01.  


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