Stocks fell further following the release of meeting minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s recent meeting. Markets are worried about rate hikes once again.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 300 points, or 0.7%. The S&P 500 was down 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.6%. Stocks were falling in the lead up to the report.
The 10-year Treasury yield was up to 4.427%.
The minutes noted that various participants “mentioned a willingness to tighten policy further should risks to inflation materialize in a way that such an action became appropriate.”
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell downplayed a potential hike in his press conference, noting he believed monetary policy was restrictive enough to bring inflation back down toward the central bank’s 2% target.
While the minutes didn’t contradict Powell, who said the central bank would consider raising rates if inflation proved trickier than he anticipates, the remarks clearly spooked traders.
“Domestic data releases over the intermeeting period pointed to inflation being more persistent than previously expected and to a generally resilient economy,” the minutes read. “Policy expectations shifted materially in response.”
Signup bonus from
