US close: Stocks weaker as Fed maintains accommodative policy
Stocks on Wall Street had their worst day in months on Wednesday, as market participants digested the latest rate decision from the Federal Reserve, as well as updates from Apple, Facebook and Tesla.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.05% at 30,303.17, the S&P 500 lost 2.57% to 3,750.77, and the Nasdaq Composite was 2.61% weaker at 13.270.60.
Late in the session, the Federal Reserve sated market expectations by standing pat on interest rate targets, while maintaining asset purchases of at least $120bn every month.
““The economy is a long way from our monetary policy and inflation goals, and it’s likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved,” said the central bank’s chair, Jerome Powell, in his press conference after the meeting.
He said policy would remain “highly accommodative” as the country’s economy climbed its way out of the Covid-19 hole.
On the macro front, mortgage application numbers decreased 4.1% on a seasonally-adjusted basis in the week ended 22 January, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Elsewhere, the Commerce Department said new orders for US manufactured durable goods rose much less than anticipated in December, edging up just 0.2% last month after surging by an upwardly revised 1.2% in November.
Economists had pencilled an increase of 0.9%.
In corporate news, quarterly numbers from a number of tech firms led to declines, with Apple down 0.77%, Facebook losing 3.51% and Tesla 2.14% weaker.
Results from AT&T revealed solid wireless, fibre and HBO Max subscriber gains, although its shares still closed down 2.05%.
Boeing was 3.97% lower after it reported weak earnings, and AMD shares slid 6.2% despite the chipmaker posting revenue and earnings that beat Wall Street expectations.
Appliances giant Whirlpool was up 2.9% and apparel firm Levi Strauss & Co was ahead 3.04%, ahead of both companies reporting their latest numbers after the closing bell.
Dow Jones - Risers
3M Co. (MMM) $186.65 6.08%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $51.18 4.05%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.70 0.97%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $232.90 0.25%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $122.47 -0.02%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $224.78 -0.65%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $142.06 -0.77%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $199.38 -0.84%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $88.20 -1.30%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Boeing Co. (BA) $194.03 -3.97%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $77.07 -3.96%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $207.00 -3.89%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $163.03 -3.85%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $128.38 -3.54%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $180.63 -3.51%
Visa Inc. (V) $194.97 -3.48%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $274.05 -3.03%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $131.02 -3.02%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $273.33 -2.99%
S&P 500 - Risers
Macerich Co (MAC) $22.38 15.01%
Macy's Inc. (M) $17.73 11.93%
Iron Mountain Inc (New) (IRM) $37.01 10.81%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $71.72 10.58%
Discovery Inc. Class A (DISCA) $43.87 7.74%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $13.07 6.96%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $16.56 6.63%
3M Co. (MMM) $186.65 6.08%
Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) $27.59 5.95%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $11.31 5.80%
S&P 500 - Fallers
L Brands Inc (LB) $37.54 -12.70%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $19.54 -10.45%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $133.04 -8.24%
Textron Inc. (TXT) $45.89 -7.46%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $133.86 -7.29%
Anthem Inc (ANTM) $290.17 -7.15%
Svb Financial Group (SIVB) $448.10 -7.05%
VF Corp. (VFC) $79.15 -7.02%
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $43.18 -7.02%
PVH Corp. (PVH) $85.11 -7.00%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $71.72 10.58%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $16.56 6.63%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $6.87 4.89%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $51.18 4.05%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $144.47 3.86%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $13.44 3.19%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $432.08 2.74%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $83.30 2.42%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $53.19 2.17%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $133.23 1.86%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $133.04 -8.24%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $133.86 -7.29%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $90.09 -7.09%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $523.28 -6.88%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $515.04 -6.81%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $98.58 -6.59%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $97.87 -6.51%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $93.00 -6.43%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $123.21 -6.30%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $284.44 -6.30%