US stocks mixed. Dow fell 0.27%, S&P 500 rose 0.68% and Nasdaq advanced 1.52% despite of some technical problems.
U.S. stocks fell after the Federal Reserve’s July meeting minutes showed officials support the timeline for reducing stimulus.
Fed officials were “broadly comfortable” with Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s plan to start reducing bond buying later this year if the economy improves, with a few saying tapering might be needed soon, minutes of their last meeting show.
“Almost all committee members agreed that a change in the purchase program was not yet appropriate,” and a few said “it might soon be time to slow somewhat the pace of purchases as outlined in that plan,” according to the record of the Federal Open Market Committee’s July 30-31 gathering released today in Washington.
The Federal Open Market Committee will opt for tapering at the September meeting, according to 65% of 48 respondents in an Aug. 9-13 survey. The median estimate called for purchases to be cut to $75 billion.
At the conclusion of its two-day meeting in July, the Fed said that while economic growth should pick up from its recent pace, persistently low inflation could hamper the recovery. It repeated a pledge to hold the target interest rate near zero as long as the jobless rate remains above 6.5% and the outlook for inflation over one to two years doesn’t exceed 2.5%.
But next day U.S. stocks rose on data showing improvement in global manufacturing and the American labor market amid a trading halt on the Nasdaq Stock Market after a computer error.Computer errors shook American equity markets again as malfunctioning software that feeds data between exchanges prompted Nasdaq to halt trading in stocks and options today.The number of U.S. claims for unemployment insurance in the month ended Aug. 17 declined to 330,500 a week on average, the least since November 2007, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. Compared with a week earlier, claims rose by 13,000 to 336,000, in line with the median forecast.
An index of U.S. house prices climbed 0.7% in June from a revised 0.8% gain the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and compared with a 0.6% rise forecast.
The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators increased 0.6% in July, the New York-based group said. The median forecast called for a 0.5% advance.
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