US close: Stocks end lower as Fed chatter loudens

Wall Street's main stock market averages fell back in the wake of the latest dose of Fedspeak and following disappointing results from aluminium maker Alcoa on Tuesday.

Nasdaq 100

20,394.13

12:15 15/11/24

-2.40%

-502.54

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was last down 1.09% to 18,128.66, the S&P 500 lost 1.24% at 2,136.73 and the Nasdaq 100 was off 1.47% at 4,821.91.

Speaking in Sydney, Chicago Fed president Charles Evans said progress on inflation had been unsatisfactory thus far.

On the subject of the next potential interest rate hike, he added that “one move isn’t that big of a deal either way”.

That was enough to send US Treasuries lower and spark selling in the equity space, pushing the yield on the benchmark up by three basis points to 1.75% early in the session.

Evans's remarks were made ahead of the release of the minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting and speeches from two more Fed speakers scheduled for Wednesday.

Jamieson Blake, retail sales manager at ADS Securities London, said: “It’s a relatively quiet day ahead in terms of economic data for US markets, although by all accounts the key release today will be Alcoa’s earnings update, nominally kicking off the quarter’s reporting season.

“As it stands, Wall Street is eyeing a slightly softer start with continued appreciation of the greenback making dollar denominated assets look generally expensive.

“This earnings season sits squarely on top of the closing phase of the US Presidential election, so any notable bias in the fortunes of corporates could end up tipping the balance in either direction.”

Blake said Alcoa is just the starting point, though it seemed inevitable that the same strand of news will provide another layer of volatility for markets in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, oil prices were weaker after racking up strong gains in the previous session when Russian President Vladimir Putin told an energy congress in Turkey that the nation was ready to join OPEC in a proposed curb on production.

West Texas Intermediate was last down 1.12% at $50.78 a barrel and Brent crude was off 1.26% to $52.48.

On the corporate front, Twitter shares rose 2.51% following a Reuters report on Monday that Salesforce is still mulling a bid for the company.

Stock in Alcoa crashed 11.42% after the firm reported third quarter earnings per share of 32 cents, against a consensus of 33 cents, on sales of $5.21bn, compared to a consensus for $5.33bn.

Dow Jones - Risers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $116.30 0.22%
General Electric Co. (GE) $28.93 0.21%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $51.83 0.06%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $68.94 -0.00%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $41.54 -0.46%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $68.31 -0.48%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.90 -0.58%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $88.54 -0.58%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $91.86 -0.68%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.74 -0.79%