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US stocks edge down as Fed stays dovish on rates
NEW YORK, Feb 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks finished a choppy
session slightly lower Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
reiterated a dovish approach to further interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.1 percent to end the day
26,057.98.
The broad-based S&P 500 also lost 0.1 percent to close at 2,793.90, as did
the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which finished at 7,549.30.
Powell avoided any major surprises in his first of two days of
congressional testimony, telling the Senate Banking Committee that inflation
would fall further below the Fed’s two percent target in spite of solid
growth and job gains and that the central bank would be “patient” before
adjusting interest rates.
“The market heard what it wanted to hear,” said Nate Thooft, a senior
portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management. “He remains dovish and data-
dependent.”
Consumer confidence rebounded strongly in February as shoppers put the
Wall Street rout and extended government shutdown of recent months behind
them, according the Conference Board survey.
After a nearly 20 percent jump in US stocks since late December, some
analysts think the market will find it hard to rise much further absent a
positive catalyst, such as a final trade deal between the US and China.
Negotiators from Beijing and Washington have reported progress on the
talks, and the next round of tariffs has been delayed, but there is still no
final deal.
Among individual companies, Caterpillar slumped 2.4 percent following a
downgrade by UBS, which predicted the industrial giant would achieve peak
earnings in 2019 but decline in 2020 as it faces headwinds in the
construction and oil and gas markets.
Fellow Dow member Home Depot shed 0.8 percent as it projected slightly
lower 2019 sales growth compared with last year.
Tesla Motors dipped 0.3 percent after the US Securities and Exchange
Commission asked a federal judge to declare the company’s CEO Elon Musk in
contempt of court after a series of tweets the agency said violated a prior
settlement regarding other statements on Twitter.
BSS/AFP/HR/0950