Stocks mostly off after Fed cuts growth outlook
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Stocks mostly off after Fed cuts growth outlook
Bernanke says more action will come if labor market doesn’t pick up
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks ended mostly lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut its growth forecasts and Chairman Ben Bernanke said the labor market had lost some steam.
“If we get another disappointing jobs number, the odds are the Fed is going to announce its much-anticipated QE3 (third round of quantitative easing) at its next meeting in early August,” said Ryan Sweet, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics.
“If we’re not seeing sustained improvement in the labor market that would require additional action,” Bernanke told reporters at a press conference. Read full Fed story here.
“The Fed needs to remain very aggressive because the recovery is fragile; the Fed is trying to steer us through this soft patch. With a little luck this will be just that and nothing worse,” Sweet said.
After a 92-point fall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI
JIA) ended at 12,824.39, down 12.94 points, or 0.1%.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE
G) was among the blue chips weighing, off 2.9% after the world’s largest consumer-products maker reduced its growth outlooks for a second time in two months.
Halting its winning streak at 4 sessions, its longest up run since late May, the S&P 500 (SNC:SPX) lost 2.29 points, or 0.2%, to 1,355.69, with utilities and natural-resource shares hardest hit and financials and technology faring best among its 10 industry groups.
Extending its gains into a fifth session, the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:COMP) added 0.69 point to 2,930.45.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-sl...2012-06-20
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