Category: Stock Market News

Special counsel Robert Mueller has expanded the investigation into Russian election meddling to include whether President Donald Trump attempted to obstruct justice, according to a report late Wednesday by the Washington Post. The widening of the probe reportedly began shortly after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in early May. A number of senior intelligence officials have agreed to be interviewed by investigators, the Post said. A spokesman for Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, told the Post: “The FBI leak of information regarding the President is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal.”

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Technology stocks turned sharply lower after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, with most of the “FAANG” stocks swinging from gains to losses. Shares of Facebook Inc. dropped 0.7% in afternoon trade, after being up about 0.6% just before the Fed’s announcement at 2 p.m. ET. Among other FAANG companies, shares of Apple Inc. extended losses to 1.2% after being down just 0.7% pre-Fed; Amazon.com Inc. swung to a loss of 0.7% from a pre-Fed gain of 0.2%; Netflix Inc. went from a gain of 0.1% pre-Fed to a current decline of 0.8%; Google parent Alphabet Inc. was down 0.5%, reversing a pre-Fed gain of 0.6%. The SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF extended losses to 0.7% from 0.1% pre-Fed. In comparison, the S&P 500 went from a pre-Fed loss of 0.1% to a current loss of 0.2%.

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The Nasdaq Composite Index Wednesday afternoon saw losses accelerate, as the Federal Reserve lifted key interest-rates a quarter-point, as expected, and detailed plans to reduce its $4.5 trillion balance sheet this year. The Nasdaq Composite Index was recently down 0.9%, which would wipe out Tuesday’s gains and extend a downtrend for the technology-laden index, which has been under pressure amid persistent concerns that high flying tech names, including Amazon.com Inc. and Nvidia Corp. , are overvalued. Those names were trading lower after teasing earlier gains. The Nasdaq is on track to finish the session in the red three of the past four sessions. A popular exchange-traded fund that tracks the tech sector, the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF was off 1%, led by losses in Qorvo Inc. and Western Digital Corp. . The drop in tech and a selloff in the energy sector were combining to drag the S&P 500 index down, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was bucking the trend, up a modest 0.1%.

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Washington police have made two arrests related to violence outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence during a visit by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month, the Associated Press reported. U.S. officials have strongly criticized Turkey’s government after Erdogan’s security forces pushed past police and violently broke up a protest outside the residence on May 16.

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U.S. stocks turned lower on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve’s Chairwoman Janet Yellen began the news conference following the Fed’s policy announcement, raising key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point. Yellen said the Fed believed the planned reduction in its $4.5 trillion balance sheet should be “gradual” and “predictable.” The S&P 500 was down 6 points, or 0.3% at 2,434. The Nasdaq Composite declined 30 points, or 0.5%, to 6,189. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded 10 points, or 0.1%, lower at 21,318. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note , the most sensitive to changes in Fed policy, trimmed earlier decline and was recently down 3 basis points to 1.34%.

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Oil prices dropped under $45 a barrel Wednesday to mark their lowest settlement since mid November. Prices fell steeply after the Energy Information Administration reported a smaller-than-expected weekly decline in crude supplies, along with an increase in supplies and weak demand for gasoline. July WTI crude lost $1.73, or 3.7%, to settle $44.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. July gasoline led the percentage losses in the energy market, down 4.5% to settle at $1.433 a gallon, the lowest finish since late November.

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Shares of Home Depot Inc. rallied 1.8% in afternoon trade Wednesday, to pace the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s gainers, in the wake of some encouraging data for the home improvement sector in an otherwise weak retail sales report. The stock was now within 1% of its May 16 record close of $158.26. Earlier, government data showed that sales at U.S. retailers fell 0.3% last month, the biggest monthly decline since January 2016. But within the report, data showed that sales of building materials and garden equipment and supplies–right up Home Depot’s alley–were flat on the month. Year over year, the sales rose 10.8%, outperforming total retail growth of 4.0%. Among other retailers known for selling home-improvement equipment, shares of Lowe’s Companies climbed 1.4% and of Sears Holdings Corp. ran up 1.6%. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P Retail ETF slipped 0.5%, while the Dow gained 23 points, or 0.1%.

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Treasury yields rose on Wednesday, but remained a relatively low levels, after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, as expected, to a range of between 1% and 1.25%, but cut their inflation outlook. The yield for the 10-year Treasury note rose about 2 basis points to 2.12% from 2.10% just before the announcement. The 2-year note rose to 1.319% from 1.290%, while the 30-year Treasury was at 2.774%, little changed. The Fed also said they would aim to reduce their $4.5 trillion balance sheet by the end of the year, which theoretically should be bearish for bond prices, pushing yields higher. Ahead of the Fed policy update, yields for U.S. government paper fell dramatically to multimonth lows on signs that inflation was rising to the Fed’s 2% target level. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen is slated to host a news conference at 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss the central bank’s monetary-policy strategy.

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The U.S. dollar weakened against its major rivals on Wednesday, though it was off its lows of the session after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates, as had been widely expected. The U.S. dollar index , which measures the buck against a half-dozen rivals, lost 0.5% to 96.52; earlier, it fell as much as 0.7%. The U.S. central bank lifted its benchmark interest rate to between 1% and 1.25%, stuck to plans for one more rate hike in 2017 and said that starting “this year” it would gradually shrink its massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet. The dollar has traded lower for much of Wednesday’s session, following the release of data that came in below forecasts. The consumer-price index, released ahead of the Fed policy update, fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May while the rate of inflation over the past 12 months slowed to 1.9% in May from a five-year high of 2.7% just four months ago. Separately, May retail sales fell 0.3%, their biggest drop in 16 months. In specific pairs, the euro rose 0.6% against the dollar, while the buck sank 0.8% against the yen , having previously dropped as much as 1.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks rose marginally after Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point as was widely anticipated and signaled at least one more increase by the end of the year. Fed officials indicated that the ‘gradual’ shrinking of the $4.5 trillion balance sheet will begin this year. The S&P 500 was up 1 point at 2,441. The Nasdaq Composite was up 8 points, or 0.1%, to 6,229. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded 46 points, or 0.2%, higher at 21,373. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note , the most sensitive to changes in Fed policy, trimmed earlier decline and was down 5 basis points to 1.32%.

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