Stocks Pare Losses after Fed Minutes

Stocks pared their losses, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq turning positive, following the release of minutes of Federal Reserve’s most recent monetary policy meeting.

At last check, the Dow Jones was trading 0.17% lower at 13,181.32, the S&P 500 was trading 0.15% higher at 1,415.44, and the Nasdaq was trading 0.32% higher at 3,076.93.

All three major indexes had fallen sharply earlier in the day as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the release of minutes from the latest FOMC meeting.

The minutes released a short while ago showed that many members of the FOMC said additional monetary easing is likely warranted unless there is a significant improvement in the economy. The minutes suggest that the Fed is likely to implement further easing measures to boost the economy soon.

Investors are hoping that the Federal Reserve will provide more hints on further easing measures during the central banks’ meeting in Jackson Hole at the end of this month.

Services sector is leading the rebound in the S&P 500. At last check, the sector was trading 0.26% higher. Basic Materials sector has also turned positive. At last check, the sector was trading 0.18% higher. Consumer Cyclical sector is currently trading 0.10% higher. Consumer Non-Cyclical and Industrials have been the worst performers in the S&P 500, down 0.29% and 0.27%, respectively.

Among the major gainers and losers in late trading today are Sunrise Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: SRZ), which is currently trading 59.18% higher at $14.22, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), which is currently trading 6.28% lower at $11.56, Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL), which is currently trading 4.97% higher at $33.39, Health Care REIT Inc. (NYSE: HCN), which is currently trading 3.08% lower at $57.91, and Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM), which is currently trading 11.56% higher at $42.65.

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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.