US close: Stocks slip following upbeat remarks from Fed's Powell
Wall Street skidded lower on Wednesday as the Treasury yield curve flattened further in reaction to upbeat remarks from Fed chief Jerome Powell at the presser following the US central bank's policy announcement.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrials was down by 0.40% or 106.93 points at 26,385.28, while the S&P 500 was trading 0.33% lower to 2,905.97 and the Nasdaq Composite was off by 0.21% or 17.11 points at 7,990.37.
In parallel, the spread between two and 10-year US Treasury note yields declined to 24 basis points, sending the KBW index of lenders' shares down by 1.9% to 106.74.
Nevertheless, from a sector standpoint the worst performing areas of the market were: Gold mining (-3.85%), Mining (-3.31%), Industrial Metals (-2.23%).
Stocks had initially moved higher as traders reacted to the Fed's decision to stop describing its policy stance as "accommodative", even as it hiked the target range for the Fed funds rate by 25 basis points to between 2.0% and 2.25%.
But they slipped in the last 30 minutes of trading, after Powell explained that that wasn't meant as a signal.
As well, as analysts at Rabobank pointed out, the Fed's Summary of Economic Projections showed that there were now 12 officials anticipating four rate hikes in 2019 and four expecting three interest rate increases, versus an eight-to-seven split in June.
That was on top of another hike next December.
Trade concerns were also on investors' minds on Wednesday after Chinese officials took aim at Donald Trump earlier in the week, accusing him of "trade bullyism" and a racist "America First" agenda that came at the cost of international relations.
The comments came shortly after the latest tit-for-tariff between the pair came into effect — 10% tariffs on $200bn-worth of Chinese goods, to which Beijing responded with $60bn in tariffs on US.
In corporate news, shares of Nike were 1.29% lower after he company posted its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday evening, while IBM picked up 1.85% after UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral'.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals climbed 5.13% after it agreed to buy Syntimmune for $1.2bn, but Worthington Industries sank 8.21% after it reported first-quarter earnings and sales that missed expectations.
Omnova Solutions added 1.95% following its revelation of a third-quarter loss driven by asset write-downs related to its strategic decision to exit from the commodity-coated paper market and Square slipped 0.73%, following a jump during the previous session that marked its best one-day percentage gain in more than a year.
On the data front, sales of new homes in the US expanded at a 3.5% month-on-month pace in August, snapping a two-month drop thanks to a buoyant market in the Northeast and West Coast housing markets.
The Commerce Department revealed that newly built homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000 last month - marking a growth of 6.9% year-to-date.
However, rising costs and pricier mortgage rates seemingly curbed the enthusiasm of many would-be buyers.
Dow Jones - Risers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $151.61 1.81%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $165.76 1.50%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $115.21 1.39%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $72.96 1.04%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $53.14 0.15%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $207.52 0.03%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $139.56 -0.11%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $48.41 -0.12%
Visa Inc. (V) $149.27 -0.20%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $263.20 -0.23%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $129.50 -2.51%
American Express Co. (AXP) $108.01 -1.69%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $138.25 -1.64%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $66.89 -1.56%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $228.88 -1.56%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $115.02 -1.46%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $83.26 -1.20%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $121.95 -1.15%
3M Co. (MMM) $211.08 -1.14%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $85.78 -0.82%
S&P 500 - Risers
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $135.61 5.13%
SCANA Corp. (SCG) $36.63 4.96%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $33.74 3.88%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $41.62 3.84%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $21.10 3.23%
Assurant Inc. (AIZ) $107.10 3.09%
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) $129.21 2.88%
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) $314.58 2.77%
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $137.44 2.61%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $33.58 2.50%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $5.17 -9.77%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $201.16 -5.54%
EQT Corp. (EQT) $44.44 -5.31%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $16.53 -5.16%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.40 -4.76%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $39.69 -4.18%
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (JEF) $22.22 -4.14%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $27.43 -4.02%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $29.87 -3.92%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $28.61 -3.88%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $135.61 5.13%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $330.75 3.48%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $309.58 2.85%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $221.62 2.82%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $25.20 2.69%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $33.58 2.50%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $67.42 2.37%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $377.88 2.29%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $349.37 2.26%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $186.65 2.19%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $201.16 -5.54%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $47.07 -2.93%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $56.52 -2.67%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $21.90 -2.10%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $90.04 -1.84%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $100.58 -1.74%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $131.67 -1.69%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $148.81 -1.64%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $22.20 -1.51%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $37.11 -1.36%