Breaking
Stocks end volatile session lower as rally collapses in wake of Fed minutes
U.S. stocks ended a volatile session on a downbeat note on Wednesday, as an afternoon rally quickly fizzled in the wake of the Federal Reserve releasing the minutes to its most recent meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 168 points, or 0.7%, to 24,797. The S&P 500 lost 15 points to 2,701, a drop of 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 16 points, or 0.2%, to 7,218. All three had been solidly higher in afternoon trading, but they sharply retreated as investors struggled to digest the minutes, which pointed to a strong economy, but also the “increased likelihood” of more rate hikes ahead. The news pushed the U.S. dollar higher and sent the yields for the 10-year Treasury note to a four-year high of 2.95%. Recent trading on Wall Street has been driven by the prospect of inflation returning to the economy, and the Fed having to become more aggressive in raising rates to combat such a scenario. One bright spot for markets was banks, which typically do well in rising-rate environments due to the positive impact it has on their net interest margins. Among notable gainers, Citigroup Inc. rose 0.7% while Zions Bancorp was up 1.6%. Regions Financial closed up 1.1%.