Stocks Held Losses By Late Trading


U.S. stocks held losses by late trading on Wednesday as investors remain clueless as to when the Federal Reserve might begin the tapering of the bond purchase program.

At last check, the Dow Jones fell 0.70%; the NASDAQ Composite Index edged down 0.29% while the S&P 500 Index lost 0.44%.

Major U.S. averages extended losses by afternoon trading after St Louis Fed President James Bullard’s speech did not provide any clear indication over the scaling down of the economic stimulating measures. Speaking at Rotary Club luncheon in Paducah, Kentucky, Bullard said that the inflation was still low but also warned of excessive inflation in the future. He said that the Fed should stick to its 2% inflation target so that it does not loss its credibility.

These remarks came after the Labor Department’s, producer price index, a measure of inflation,  for July showed no change. Economists had expected 0.3% increase. The ‘core’ producer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy items, rose mere 0.1%, below analysts’ expectation for 0.2% increase.

In some corporate news, shares of Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) crossed $500 mark on Wednesday. Earlier on Tuesday, the billionaire investor, Carl Icahn said that he has a huge stake in Apple Inc. The activist investor tweeted that the iPad maker’s stock could even reach $700, should the Company’s CEO Tim Cook pushes for a stock buyback program.

The Dow Component, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) is due to announce quarterly results after the closing bell.

Shares of Macy’s Inc (NYSE: M) fell about 3.5% by late trading. The retailer’s second quarter results fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.








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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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