US close: Stocks close lower following FOMC minutes
Wall Street stocks closed lower on Wednesday as minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting weighed on sentiment.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.31% at 27,692.88, while the S&P 500 was 0.44% lower at 3,374.85 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.57% weaker at 11,146.46.
The Dow closed 85.19 points lower on Wednesday, carrying on yesterday's losses.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting had investors spooked on Thursday after the central bank cut its economic growth forecast for the remainder of 2020 and stressed the need for more financial aid to vulnerable families and the broader economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also in focus, the ongoing stalemate between Republican and Democratic lawmakers regarding another round of coronavirus stimulus payments to Americans after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin slammed Democratic leaders for being unwilling to discuss a smaller relief package and delayed trade talks between the US and China amid heightened tensions between the two economic superpowers.
On the data front, total mortgage application volume fell 3.3% week-on-week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, as the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with loan balances of $510,400 or less increased rather abruptly to 3.13% from 3.06%.
Declining numbers of new Covid-19 cases were also giving sentiment a slight boost on Wednesday.
In the corporate space, Johnson & Johnson announced its acquisition of Momenta Pharmaceuticals for roughly $6.5bn in cash to improve its portfolio treatments for autoimmune diseases, while Target shares were higher after reporting that profits and sales had soared last quarter.
Lowe's shares were also higher after posting a 30% jump in second-quarter revenues.